PORTLAND, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (10-1, 7-0 GNAC) extended its winning streak to 10 games with a 21-7 victory over Rivier University (4-8, 3-4 GNAC) at Deering Memorial Stadium on Wednesday evening. Junior attack Mary Leasure (South Portland, Maine/McAuley) totaled eight points and broke the Monks' single-season assists record in the lopsided triumph.
Saint Joseph's, ranked 12th nationally in scoring offense (16.30 GPG) entering tonight's contest, wasted little time getting on the board, as Leasure scored off a pass from junior Kat Gadbois (Scarborough, Maine) just 1:20 after the opening whistle. Rivier tied the game just 39 seconds later when sophomore Shae O'Connell (Bridgewater, Mass.) netted her 14th goal of the year.
The Monks then assumed control of the game by scoring seven unanswered goals in a matter of six minutes, with junior Lizzie Calnan (Westport, Mass.) potting three markers, including the go-head tally at the 25:29 mark and the final goal of the outbreak a little more than six minutes later.
The Raiders attempted to fight back into contention by scoring a pair of goals just 31 seconds apart, as senior captain Savannah Neuwirt (Newbury, N.H.) and junior Jocelyn Park (Londonderry, N.H.) steered shots past SJC sophomore goalie Meghan Fullarton (Windham, Maine) to make it an 8-3 game with 17:05 before the break.
St. Joe's effectively put the game away with four consecutive goals during a 10-minute span, as sophomore Jackie Wilson (Tiverton, R.I.) scored three times and Leasure was credited with three assists during a stretch that saw the Royal Blue gain a 12-3 cushion.
Leading 15-5 at intermission, the Monks continued to apply pressure, albeit at a more deliberate pace. Leasure kicked off the second-stanza scoring with a pair of unassisted goals, scored less than two minutes apart, to make it a 16-5 game and the hosts went on to outscore the visitors by a 5-2 margin over the remainder of the latter half en route to the 21-7 final.
Eight different players scored for the Monks, as Calnan matched Leasure with four goals while adding an assist with four ground balls, two draw controls and a pair of caused turnovers and freshman attack Elyse Caiazzo (Scarborough, Maine/Cheverus) recorded three goals and two assists in the win. Wilson contributed three goals, two assists, four ground balls and two draw controls, Gadbois tallied two goals, two assists, 10 ground balls, four draw controls and three caused turnovers and sophomore Kelsey Dumond (Lewiston, Maine) chipped in with two goals and an assist. Junior Elizabeth Elcock (Westwood, Mass.) added two goals and three ground balls and freshman Courtney Trufant (South Portland, Maine) netted one goal to round out the Monks' offensive contributors.
Leasure added four ground balls and three caused turnovers in the triumph and surpassed Lauren Hagerman '10 on the Monks' single-season assists leaderboard when she dealt the helper on a Wilson goal at the 8:42 mark of the first half. Leasure now has 32 assists through just 11 games while Hagerman recorded 29 assists as a senior in 2010.
Fullarton made three saves to pick up her fifth win of the season and ace defender Emma Lafrance (Westport, Mass.) recorded six ground balls and three caused turnovers on the evening.
For the Raiders, Neuwirt scored twice with an assist and a pair of draw controls, sophomore Amanda Wickens (Tyngsboro, Mass.) added two goals with five ground balls and eight draw controls, and O'Connell produced a goal and an assist in the losing effort. Senior keeper Mackenzie Flagg (Shirley, Mass.) took the loss after making three saves on the night.
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 4-2 all-time versus Rivier University, a team the Monks defeated by a 14-11 margin in Nashua last spring. Tonight's winning margin and winning goal total both count as series-highs.
Both teams return to the turf on Saturday, when Saint Joseph's plays at Johnson & Wales University (2:00 PM) in a battle of GNAC undefeated teams and Rivier plays a non-conference game at Southern Vermont (3:30 PM).
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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.
