NEWTON, MA – Freshman forward Kim Jordan (Bangor, Maine) scored in the 67th minute to break a scoreless tie and lift Saint Joseph's (6-4-3, 5-3-3 GNAC) to a 1-0 victory over Lasell College (11-3-1, 10-1 GNAC) in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's soccer match on Saturday.
Jordan's goal capped a 15-second flurry of activity inside the Lasers' box, as shots by Danielle Daigle '15 (Dayton, Maine) and Doe Leckie '15 (Naples, Maine) both clanged off the post during the scrum. Leckie launched another shot off the crossbar and the rebound landed right on the foot of Jordan, who cleaned up the play with a boot to the upper right corner of the net.
Lasell, the 2010 GNAC Champions and the top team in the conference this season, carried a 12-game unbeaten streak into today's match and has outscored conference opponents by a 47-6 margin this fall.
"In my opinion, this is the best victory the women's soccer program has recorded in my eight years," added Head Coach Michael Bolanz '00 in a brief phone conversation following the win.
Although Jordan netted the game-clincher, credit for the key conference conquest goes to Monks sophomore netminder Jaci Lorenzen (Windham, Maine), who made a career-high 13 saves on the afternoon. Lorenzen had little time to rest as the Lasers tallied 30 shots – the most by an SJC opponent this season – and held a 12-3 advantage in corner kicks in a losing effort.
The Monks registered eight shots, three of which found metal, two were stopped by Lasell keeper Elizabeth Stickley '12 (Mashpee, Mass.), two were off target and, of course, another tickled the twine.
Lasell has long been a contender in the GNAC, but the Monks seemingly have the Lasers' number as the Royal Blue improves to 5-1-1 in the history of the series with today's triumph. Saint Joseph's has topped Lasell in five consecutive meetings and has not lost to the conference counterpart since suffering a 5-1 setback during the 2003 campaign.
With a pair of GNAC tilts remaining, St. Joe's sits in sixth place in the conference standings. The Monks play at Mount Ida College (2-12, 1-10 GNAC) this Wednesday at 3:30 PM and hosts Saint Joseph (Conn.) (11-4, 8-3 GNAC) next Saturday in a 12:00 PM kickoff.
Lasell hits the road on Wednesday for a 3:30 PM match at Johnson & Wales University (9-4-2, 7-1-2 GNAC).
