STANDISH, ME – Saint Joseph's College (6-2-1, 2-0-0 GNAC) defeated University of Maine-Farmington (1-3-1, 0-1-1 NAC), 3-0, in a non-conference men's soccer match at Westerlea Way Field on Wednesday afternoon. Senior Kyle Shangraw (Westbrook, Maine) scored a pair of penalty-kick goals in the first half to lift the Monks to their sixth-consecutive victory.
Shangraw netted his first PK marker just 1:44 after the opening whistle, when the senior midfielder blasted a kick through the hands of Maine-Farmington senior keeper Derek Reilly (Hollis-Brookline, N.H.), who guessed correctly and dove to his left to no avail.
The second PK tally of the match occurred in the 34th minute when freshman midfielder Jack Murray (Hingham, Mass.) was fouled in the box. Called on to take the kick again, Shangraw proceeded to double the Monks' margin with an untouched ball into the right corner of the net.
The hosts added to their lead just over two minutes later when senior back Joe Murphy (Poland, Maine) scored at the 35:58 mark. Following a UMF foul near the Monks' bench, sophomore Nate Fox (South Portland, Maine) took the free kick and delivered a perfect pass to the left post, where Murphy jumped well above the Beavers' defense and knocked a header into the top left corner to make it a 3-0 game.
The 3-0 advantage held until the break and the remainder of the contest, as the second stanza featured plenty of midfield play and just nine total shots.
Sophomore goalkeeper Scott Benner (Post Falls, Idaho) and junior Robert Petrosillo (Methuen, Mass.), who made a pair of saves over 70 minutes of play, combined to register the shutout. Reilly recorded four saves in a losing effort for the Beavers.
Overall, Saint Joseph's held a 16-5 advantage in shots while both teams attempted a pair of corner kicks on the afternoon. The match featured 34 total fouls – 18 on the Beavers and 16 on the Monks.
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 5-17-4 versus University of Maine-Farmington. The Monks have now defeated the Beavers in three-straight meetings with five victories in the last six tries against their former conference counterpart. St. Joe's recorded the program's first-ever win over UMF with a 2-0 triumph in Farmington during the 2008 campaign.
The Monks' current six-game winning streak is tied for the longest in team history. The 1998 and 2012 sides also reached the half-dozen consecutive win mark. Saint Joseph's has outscored opponents by a 12-1 margin during the current six-game string.
The Monks return to action this Saturday when the team hosts reigning GNAC Champion Albertus Magnus College at 12:00 PM. The Beavers are set to host Bowdoin College at 2:30 PM on Sunday.
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 430-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
