STANDISH, Maine – Sophomore forward Haley DaGraca (Saco, Maine) registered her second hat trick of the season to help lift Saint Joseph's College (8-5-2, 5-1-2 GNAC) past Anna Maria College (2-11-0, 1-7-0 GNAC), 6-0, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's soccer contest at Westerlea Way Field on Monday afternoon.
THE LEAD
The Monks kicked off the scoring barrage in the fourth minute, when sophomore forward Colleen Sheehan (Medway, Mass.) netted her third goal of the season off a Desiree Parent (Westborough, Mass.) pass. DaGraca scored the next two SJC markers and junior Lauren Stiles (Gorham, Maine) potted her third of the year on a corner, with assists going to Parent and junior Emily DeLuca (Gorham, Maine), to make it a 4-0 game heading into intermission.
DaGraca opened the second-stanza scoring in the 67th minute off passes from Sheehan and freshman Peggy Balboni (Millis, Mass.) and first-year forward Lillian Bisset (Jefferson, Maine) punched home her first NCAA tally at the 76:40 mark to account for the 6-0 final.
THE KEEPERS
Anna Maria junior goalie Kate Kneeland (Windham, Maine) was extremely busy in the loss with 21 saves, including a great stop on a DaGraca penalty-kick attempt in the 15th minute.
The Monks employed both netminders in the victory, with junior captain Brooke Troup (East Bridgewater, Mass.) posting one stop in the first half and freshman Cori Balam (Lyndeborough, N.H.) making a pair of saves in the second stanza.
TEAM STATS
Saint Joseph's held a 46-4 shots advantage with a 4-0 lead in corner kicks on the afternoon. The Monks' single-game shots record, 55, was set in a win over Pine Manor College on September 25th, 2011.
NOTABLES
- Junior captain Sarah Comtois (Lowell, Mass.) recorded a career-high 11 shots with five on target – the most shots by an SJC player since Jess Neeham '11 attempted 12 shots against Pine Manor on September 15th, 2010
- Stiles added seven shots while DaGraca tallied six and Parent added five attempts
- Anna Maria senior forward Rebecca Mauricio (Pawtucket, R.I.) notched three of the AMCATS' four shots in the losing effort
- The AMCATS have now lost seven in a row, including four-consecutive shutout setbacks
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 6-0 in the history of the series with Anna Maria College. All six of the victories have been of the shutout variety.
NEXT!
Both teams hit the road to face conference opponents next Saturday, when Saint Joseph's plays at Norwich University at 3:30 PM and Anna Maria treks to Simmons College for an 11:00 AM kick-off.
#GOMONKS
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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.
