STANDISH, Maine - #15/17 Saint Joseph's College (7-0-0, 3-0-0 GNAC) rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to defeat Johnson & Wales University (3-1-1, 1-1-0 GNAC) in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's soccer contest at the SJC Athletic Complex on Saturday afternoon.
SUMMARY
The visiting Wildcats grabbed an early lead when freshman midfielder Nick Gutekunst (East Northport, N.Y.) scored in the 12th minute. Scored off a corner kick, Gutekunst collected the ball after the Monks failed to clear and buried a shot to the lower left corner.
Having not trailed in a game since falling to Brandeis University in the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament, the Monks were unfazed by the deficit and proceeded to pour on pressure in their offensive third.
The efforts paid off late in the half, as the hosts scored twice in a matter of 90 seconds to secure the lead, as freshman Kuma Onyejose (East Greenwich, R.I.) tied the game with a header off a Jesse Ramirez (Dumont, N.J.) corner kick at the 40:38 mark and junior Mitchell Duncan (Sanford, Maine) netted the game-winner off an Austin Ward (North Andover, Mass.) feed with 2:58 before the break.
Saint Joseph's tacked on an insurance goal in the 78th minute, when Ramirez found the back of the net off a Jonathan Brackett (Hollis, N.H.) dish.
THE KEEPERS
Saint Joseph's senior Blake Mullen (Manchester, Conn.) made three saves to notch his 46th career victory while his counterpart, Johnson & Wales senior Nicholas Mancini (Toms River, N.J.), steered away three shots in a losing effort.
TEAM STATS
Saint Joseph's held the advantage in shots (15-4), shots on goal (6-4), and corner kicks (5-1) in the victory.
NOTEWORTHY
- Ramirez finished the day with a goal and an assist
- For Kuma Onyejose, the 41st-minute goal was the first of his NCAA career
- The JWU goal ends a 678:26 minute shutout streak for SJC – which entered today's contest having not allowed a goal since the 73rd minute of a 2-1 win over Mitchell College in the NCAA Tournament on November 11th, 2017
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 10-7 all-time versus Johnson & Wales University and has now defeated the Wildcats in three-consecutive meetings. Prior to this afternoon, the Monks had not scored as many as three goals versus JWU since topping their conference counterpart by a 4-2 margin on October 10th, 2011.
NEXT!
The Monks are back in action on Wednesday when they host GNAC-rival Suffolk University in a 6:00 PM start. The Wildcats play at Lasell College on Monday at 4:00 PM.
