FRANKLIN, Mass. – Saint Joseph's College (12-4-1, 11-1-0 GNAC) blanked Dean College (4-8-4, 2-7-3 GNAC), 5-0, in what was the final Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's soccer contest of the season for both programs on Wednesday afternoon.

PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:

With the win, Saint Joseph's clinches the top seed in the GNAC Tournament, which begins this Saturday with a quarterfinal round. The Monks will host the eighth seed with the entire tourney field being announced later this evening after all conference games have been completed.

For Dean College, the loss signals the end of the 2022 season.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Monks led 2-0 just 13 minutes into the game, as grad student Austin Ward (Exeter, N.H.) converted a penalty kick at the 3:37 mark and the Bulldogs fell victim to an own goal nine minutes later.

Saint Joseph's doubled the advantage in the opening three minutes of the second stanza, as Ward netted his 15th goal of the season 28 seconds into the latter frame and sophomore Gus Ford (Falmouth, Maine) scored his fifth of the year in the 48th minute to make it a 4-0 game.

Sophomore Nate Sottak (Belmont, N.H.) capped the scoring ledger with his first career goal on a penalty kick attempt at the 86:17 mark.

TEAM STATS:

Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (17-5), shots on goal (9-1), and corner kicks (7-2) in the GNAC contest.

THE KEEPERS:

SJC senior Mike Sheridan (Folsom, Pa.) made one save in nearly 80 minutes in goal while sophomore Liam Foley (Middleton, Mass.) did not face a shot in 10+ minutes of relief duty. The Bulldogs featured three goalies in the loss, as Jake Godwin, Alberto Gonzalez Del Rio, and Keegan West combined to make three saves.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

Saint Joseph's is now 2-0 all-time versus Dean College.