STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (6-0-1, 2-0-1 GNAC) toppled Albertus Magnus College (4-4-0, 1-2-0 GNAC), 7-0, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's soccer matchup at the SJC Athletics Complex on Saturday afternoon.
IN A NUTSHELL:
Senior Trevor Lopes (Cumberland, R.I.), junior Brett Mattos (Mahopac, N.Y.), and sophomore Mitchell Duncan (Sanford, Maine) tallied a goal and an assist apiece and the Monks outshot the visiting Falcons by a 31-3 margin as Saint Joseph's remains undefeated on the season.
THE REST OF THE STORY:
The Monks were a bit sluggish out of the gate but regrouped and managed to control possession for the vast majority of the conference contest. After being denied on several scoring chances midway through the first half, Saint Joseph's found the scoreboard at the 25:09 mark when senior Trevor Lopes (Cumberland, R.I.) delivered an odd-angle shot that ricocheted off the crossbar and the left post before hitting the net.
As it played out, the Lopes goal – assisted by freshman Noah Elmore (Berlin, Vt.) – proved to be the game-winner. Junior Brett Mattos (Mahopac, N.Y.) put his team up 2-0 with a PK strike three minutes later and junior Jesse Ramirez (Dumont, N.J.) netted his second goal of the season, off a Lopes feed, at the 30:27 to close out the first half scoring.
Sophomore Ryan Buonaiuto (Scituate, R.I.) scored his first career goal 12 minutes into the second stanza with Mattos earning the assist to extend the hosts' lead to 4-0. The Monks went on to score three goals in a matter of six minutes, with Duncan hitting pay-dirt on a beautiful tic-tac-toe play with assists from Keenan Welzel (Brunswick, Maine) and JoJo Strobino (Clifton, N.J.) at the 72:55 mark and freshmen Quinn Hewitt (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) and TJ Hennessey (Canterbury, N.H.) netting their first collegiate markers in the 75th and 80th minutes, respectively.
THE KEEPERS:
Saint Joseph's featured a pair of netminders in the shutout performance, as junior Blake Mullen (Manchester, Conn.) made one save in 71:02 minutes and freshman David Walbridge (Hampden, Mass.) went untested in 18:58 minutes of relief duty.
Albertus Magnus junior goalie Joe Russo (North Haven, Conn.) faced 19 shots with 12 stops in a losing effort.
TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held considerable advantages in shots (31-3), shots on goal (19-1), and corner kicks (8-1) on the afternoon.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the victory, Saint Joseph's is now 6-8-0 in the history of the series with Albertus Magnus College. For the Monks, today's goal total ties a program record for the most scored versus a GNAC opponent. The Royal Blue won by the exact same score versus Rivier University on October 25th, 2008.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's continues a seven-game conference stretch with a home contest versus Anna Maria College on Wednesday. Kickoff is slated for 5:00 PM.
#GOMONKS
Follow Saint Joseph's Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram!
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.
