EAST PROVIDENCE, RI – Johnson & Wales (8-9-1, 6-4-1 GNAC) defeated Saint Joseph's (7-8-1, 5-6-1 GNAC), 6-1, in GNAC Women's Soccer action on Sunday afternoon. Mikayla Call '11 (Portland, ME/McAuley) tallied the Monks' only goal in the loss.

Junior Samantha Reynolds (Plymouth, Mass.) notched her second hat-trick of the season to help lead the Wildcats to victory. For the Monks, the loss all but erases the team's hopes of earning a berth into the GNAC Tournament. Conference tourney seedings will be announced later this week.

Johnson & Wales got on the board early when junior Amanda Aguiar (Fall River, Mass.) found Reynolds on a breakaway down the middle of field.  Reynolds then buried a shot into the back of the net to put the Wildcats up 1-0 just 4:36 into the contest.  The Wildcats extended their lead to 2-0 at the 9:27 mark when junior Berkeley Cecchini-Bond (Uncasville, Conn.) collected a loose ball in the box and slipped it past the St. Joseph's keeper.  That goal would prove to be the game winner. 

JWU struck again shortly, this time on a goal by Aguiar after a through ball by fellow junior Katlyn Gerrish (North Stonington, Conn.) at the 15:59 mark for the 3-0 lead.  St. Joe's responded in the 22nd minute when Call tallied an unassisted goal to cut the lead to 3-1. 

After nearly twenty minutes of back and forth play, JWU took the 4-1 advantage as Gerrich put in a cross from Aguiar at the 40:33 mark.  The Wildcats had the 4-1 lead heading into halftime after a 9-3 advantage in shots for the stanza.

Early in the second half, Reynolds went on a breakaway after a pass from Cecchini-Bond and netted her second goal of the day to put JWU up 5-1 in the 51st minute.  Reynolds would cap off her hat-trick and the scoring for the day when she put in a rebounded shot by Aguiar at the 81:18 mark to give the Wildcats the 6-1 victory

Freshman Kara Collins (North Arlington, N.J.) made two saves in the victory for Johnson & Wales while freshman Jaci Lorenzen (Windham, Maine) had six stops in the loss for Saint Joseph's.

St. Joe's will play at Southern Maine on Wednesday at 3:00 PM. The Wildcats will return to action on Thursday when they travel to Lasell for a GNAC contest at 3:30 p.m.

COURTESY OF JWU SPORTS INFORMATION