STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (13-2, 10-2 GNAC) surged past Albertus Magnus College (4-10, 3-8 GNAC), 5-1, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's soccer contest at the SJC Athletics Complex on Saturday afternoon.
THE LEAD
Senior Haley DaGraca (Saco, Maine) tallied two goals and an assist as the Monks recorded their sixth-consecutive victory.
THE REST OF THE STORY
DaGraca opened the scoring at the 4:02 mark when a collision with Albertus senior keeper Lexie Fenn (Oakville, Conn.) created a wide-open net.
Falcons' freshman Haley Andrews (Prospect, Conn.) tied the game with her 10th goal of the season in the 41st minute when she broke free near the top of the box and, after her first shot was stopped by SJC goalie Adia Grogan (Kennebunk, Maine), corralled the rebound and tapped the ball into an empty net.
The Monks reclaimed the lead for good just 27 seconds into the second stanza, when senior Emily Thornton (Westbrook, Maine) scored off a perfect pass from Angela Valenti (Litchfield, N.H.).
Saint Joseph's maintained possession – and offensive pressure – for the better part of the latter frame and the effort paid off on three occasions, as DaGraca, McKenzie Murphy (West Baldwin, Maine), and Kayley Mattos (Mahopac, N.Y.) hit pay dirt in the 70th, 79th, and 86th minutes, respectively, to close out the scoring ledger.
THE KEEPERS
Grogan tallied four saves in the victory while Fenn turned away nine shots on the afternoon.
TEAM STATS
Saint Joseph's held considerable leads in shots (31-7), shots on goal (15-5), and corner kicks (8-1) in the victory.
SENIOR MOMENT
Prior to the start of the game the Monks held a ceremony to honor the program's seven seniors: DaGraca, Thornton, Valenti, Michaela MacDonald (New Gloucester, Maine), Skye Murray (Dayton, Maine), Colleen Sheehan (Medway, Mass.), and Madelyn Preston (Saco, Maine).
During their time on the pitch, this senior class has helped SJC record an excellent 45-25-4 (.608) overall record with a 29-12-4 (.644) mark in conference play.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING
Saint Joseph's is now 8-4-1 all-time versus Albertus Magnus College. Tonight's five-goal output by the Monks is the most scored by either team in the history of the matchup.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's closes out the regular season with a non-conference game at University of Southern Maine on Wednesday at 7:00 PM.
Women's Soccer Senior Day 2018
