NEWTON, MA – Saint Joseph's (7-4-4, 6-3-4 GNAC) shutout Mount Ida College (2-13, 1-11 GNAC), 3-0, in what was a 2011 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) finale for both programs on Sunday afternoon. The Monks' talented freshman class accounted for all three of the SJC goals in the victory.

For St. Joe's, the match had serious playoff implications, as the Monks entered the afternoon knowing that a win or tie meant the side would collect a berth in the upcoming GNAC Tournament. A loss would have left the Royal Blue outside the conference tourney pool for the second consecutive season.

The importance of the match seemed to harden the Monks' focus, as St. Joe's came out of the gate with a sense of urgency and outshot the hosts by an 8-1 margin over the first 20 minutes of play.

St. Joe's secured a 1-0 lead when freshman Doe Leckie (Naples, Maine) scored at the 19:20 mark after collecting a rebound off a shot taken by classmate Kim Jordan (Bangor, Maine). For Leckie, the Monks' leading goal scorer, the marker was her seventh of the season.

Saint Joseph's doubled the cushion when Lizzie Calnan '15 (Westport, Mass.) netted her third goal of the year off a corner kick. Catherine Murch '15 (West Baldwin, Maine) took the corner and placed a kick in the box, where Calnan connected with a header to the back of the net.

Jordan continued the rookie offensive theme when she scored less than three minutes into the latter half to make it a 3-0 contest. Sophomore Jessica Capozzi (Saugus, Mass.) set up the goal with a left to right crossing pass.

Sophomore keeper Jaci Lorenzen (Windham, Maine) recorded four saves to record her 5th shutout of the season and Mount Ida netminder Devan Meeker '13 (Bantam, Conn.) posted 13 stops in a losing effort.

The Monks outshot the Mustangs by a whopping 25-6 margin and held a 6-0 lead in corner kicks on the afternoon. St. Joe's was slapped with nine fouls while Mount Ida was flagged six times in the loss.

With the triumph, Saint Joseph's improves to 5-0 in the history of the series with Mount Ida College. The Monks have scored three goals in each of the last four wins over the Mustangs and four of the victories have been shutouts.

The victory clinched the #7 seed for the Monks, who will play at #2 Johnson & Wales University (11-5-2, 9-2-2 GNAC) in a GNAC Tournament quarterfinal match on Saturday. Kickoff time is TBD.

In the meantime, Saint Joseph's will host University of Southern Maine on Wednesday at 3:30 PM in the side's 2011 regular-season finale.