WINTHROP, Mass. – Defending league champion Johnson & Wales University has claimed the 2014 GNAC Men's Soccer regular-season title and top seed in the upcoming tournament after finishing 8-1 in league play, while registering a 12-4-1 mark overall.
No other GNAC team finished with more than five wins against conference opponents than the Wildcats, who will open up against eighth-seeded Saint Joseph's College of Maine (3-6) when postseason play begins next Saturday, November 1.
Norwich University (5-2-2) earned the second seed in the GNAC Tournament despite struggling of late, having gone 1-2-1 in its last four league matches after the Cadets went 4-0-1 in their first five GNAC contests. The Cadets will draw seventh-seeded Suffolk University (3-4-2) in next Saturday's quarterfinals.
Third-seeded Lasell College (5-3-1) had an identical conference record with fourth-seeded Albertus Magnus College (5-3-1), but earns the higher seed as a result of its 2-0 win over the Falcons back on September 20.
Lasell will host sixth-seeded Emmanuel College (4-5) in the quarterfinals, while Albertus Magnus, which needed to defeat Suffolk Saturday night in the regular-season finale in order to host a quarter match, will welcome fifth-seeded Mount Ida College (4-4-1) on Saturday.
The league's two semifinal contests will take place at higher seeds on Tuesday, Nov. 4, with the GNAC title match slated for Saturday, Nov. 8.
Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 12 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 17 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement.
First Round – Saturday, November 1
Match 1: #8 Saint Joseph's (ME) at #1 Johnson & Wales
Match 2:
Match 3: #6 Emmanuel at #3 Lasell
Match 4: #7 Suffolk at #2 Norwich
Semifinals – Tuesday, November 4
Match 5: Match 1 Winner vs. Match 2 Winner
Match 6: Match 3 Winner vs. Match 4 Winner
Championship – Saturday, November 8
Match 5 winner vs. Match 6 winner - 12:30 p.m.
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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.
