11/5/16 - Men's soccer: St. Joe's advances on penalty kicks

The Monks beat Babson, 4-2, on penalty kicks after playing scoreless through regulation and OT to reach the second round of the NCAA Division III tourney.

BY MIKE SCANDURA SPECIAL TO THE TELEGRAM

BABSON PARK, Mass. — Officially, Saint Joseph's edged Babson on Rory Twomey's goal in the fourth round of penalty kicks in Saturday's first round of the NCAA Division III men's soccer tournament.

Unofficially, the Monks won when keeper Blake Mullen robbed Ian Fromhein in the sixth minute of the first sudden-death overtime period.

 "That was a big-time save," Monks Coach Adrian Dubois said after his team prevailed, 4-2, on penalty kicks following a scoreles regulation and overtime. "That's not an easy save to make for any goalkeeper at any level. His reactions throughout the year have been incredible."

St. Joe's (16-1-5) advances to Sunday's second round to face Brandeis, which beat Western New England College 2-1 in overtime on Saturday, at 1 p.m. Babson finishes at 11-6-3.

"This guy's development has been top notch since day one." Dubois added regarding Mullen. "He was raw when we first got him. The goalkeeping coach has been working with him a ton and he's developed into a fine, fine goalkeeper. I consider myself a pretty good player and even I have a tough time scoring goals on him."

Fromhein was positioned in the box when he snapped off a header that was on its way to the left corner. But Mullen (six saves), the Great Northeast Athletic Conference goalkeeper of the year, dove and punched away what would have been the game-winning goal for Babson.

"I saw it developing," Mullen said. "As soon as that ball came in I knew I was either going to have to make a save or my defense was going to clear it. As soon as it went down to the right I was going to be right there.

"I wasn't planning on letting any goals in today. I want to keep clean sheets, keep our team in the game until we score."

After playing 110 minutes of scoreless soccer, Babson Coach Jon Anderson changed keepers for the shootout, replacing starter Austin Mankouski with Steven Heintzelman.

Froheim and the Monks Brett Mattos exchanged goals in the first round before Joe McWeeney scored for the Beavers and Dalton Gaumer scored for the Monks in the second round..

In the third round, Babson's Kofi Abankroh hit the crossbar and Noah Robinson of St. Joe's lined a shot into the lower-right corner for a 3-2 lead.

Mullen again came up big in the fourth round. He deflected an Adam Villari shot off the crossbar, setting the stage for Twomey who clinched the win by picking the lower-right corner.

"During the prior PKs I saw that the goalie really wasn't reacting to the kicks," Twomey said. "He was just diving to one side. I thought I could set him up a different way with one shot and it went in."

The Monks emphasis on defense is underscored by the fact Mullen now has 13 shutouts and that the team has allowed a mere seven goals.

Credit also must go to Monks defenders like Ryan Buonaiuto, James Stevens and Andrew Pereira.

As a result, the Monks are unbeaten over their last 20 games.

"It's wild because the guys are working hard together," Dubois said.

"There isn't any arrogance. They know they have a game to battle through and work hard. They've been successful because of all 33 guys working hard including the coaching staff."

11/6/16 - Saint Joseph's knocked out of NCAA men's soccer tournament

Brandeis beats the Monks in a second-round game, 3-0.

BY MIKE SCANDURA SPECIAL TO THE PRESS HERALD

BABSON PARK, Mass. — Prior to its second-round game Sunday in the NCAA Division III men's soccer tournament, Saint Joseph's College had played 1,360 minutes since it last trailed.

Brandeis brought that streak to a halt and broke the Monks' 20-game unbeaten streak, posting a 3-0 victory.

Because the Monks (15-2-6) invariably play with a lead, having to rally put them in an unusual position.

"We were never scored on, so we were never put in that situation," Monks Coach Adrian Dubois said. "We trained the last two months on how we would compete being behind. Today, we implemented it a little bit, and we were trying to crawl back.

"The guys gave extra effort. Strategically, we were spot on. But soccer's a chess match. If some things go wrong, it's tough to come back."

Things started to go wrong in the 25th minute when Brandeis' Evan Jastremski lined a shot from inside the box that was blocked by keeper Blake Mullen (two saves). But Mike Lynch banged home the rebound to give the Judges (12-5-3) a 1-0 lead.

Just six minutes later, Josh Ocela's corner kick deflected off a Monks defender, which forced Mullen to punch the ball away. But Thales Brito got to the loose ball and put it into lower-left corner for a 2-0 lead at halftime.

"We gave up a couple of silly mistakes, and a good team of their caliber is going to punish you," Dubois said. "My guys worked hard. But when you give up a silly mistake in a bad area or you lose a marker for a second, especially against a team with so much experience, those guys will punish you.

"At the top level, anytime you make a mistake the top players are going to punish you. You've got to limit mistakes. But our work rate was great and we gave them a run for their money early on. I'm most proud of how hard they worked the entire game. Not a single player gave up."

Whatever chance the Monks had of rallying evaporated in the 52nd minute when Patrick Flahine lofted a direct kick into the box and Zach Vieira one-timed it past Mullen.

Saint Joseph's reached the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time, and their 15 wins were a school record.

"I've been in the program since Coach Dubois got here," said senior captain Sean Baker. "I've been here through the thick and thin. We've had our rough seasons and we've been building to this point. Everybody just bought into the mentality that we're going to work hard, work for each other and do the best that we can do.

"That's the mentality we had. I always say work as a team, play for each other, and everybody bought into that. Nobody's heads were down even though we were down 2-0 at halftime. It stinks to lose, but getting to the second round of the NCAAs, you couldn't have asked for a better season."

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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 474-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.