WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Saint Joseph's College (3-0, 1-0 GNAC) found the scoreboard twice in the closing nine minutes to defeat University of Saint Joseph (CT) (2-2, 0-1 GNAC), 2-0, in what was the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon.

THE LEAD

The scoreless stalemate was broken in ignominious fashion, as at the 81:42 mark the Blue Jays were charged with an own goal after a clearing attempt struck another USJ player and ricocheted into the hosts' net.

The Monks doubled their advantage less than six minutes later when freshman Kayley Mattos (Mahopac, N.Y.) scored her first collegiate goal at the 87:09 mark. Senior Haley DaGraca (Saco, Maine) set up the play with a long crossing pass and Mattos finished with a shot, taken from just outside the 18, to the upper 90.

THE KEEPERS

Saint Joseph's freshman Adia Grogan (Kennebunk, Maine) turned away all four shots she faced, including a fantastic diving stop on free-kick attempt by USJ's Jessica Spezzano (Watertown, Conn.) in the 29th minute, to register her third shutout in as many collegiate starts.

USJ junior Megan Ricci (Center Moriches, N.Y.) made five saves in a losing effort.

TEAM STATS

The Monks held edges in shots (14-11) and shots on goal (7-4) while the Blue Jays posted an 8-4 lead in corner kicks on the afternoon.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

With the victory, Saint Joseph's is now 8-3-3 in the history of the series with University of Saint Joseph (CT). The Monks have defeated the Blue Jays in three consecutive meetings and have not lost to USJ since falling 6-0 to their conference counterpart on October 4th, 2014.

NEXT!

The Monks are off until Wednesday, September 12th when they travel to Regis (Mass.) for a 7:00 PM GNAC matchup.