STANDISH, Maine – Junior Madison Michaud (Presque Isle, Maine) netted three goals and assisted on another to lift Saint Joseph's College (2-2-0, 2-0-0 GNAC) past Elms College (2-2-1, 2-1-0 GNAC), 5-1, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's soccer action at the SJC Athletics Complex on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Michaud struck first in the 13th minute, when she collected a quick throw in from senior midfielder Ashley Emery (Madison, Maine) on the baseline to the left of the goal, eluded a defender, and slipped a shot past Elms keeper Hannah DelGuidice (Oakland, Maine).
Senior Kayley Mattos (Mahopac, N.Y.) made it a 2-0 game with her first goal of the season, which was scored at the 24:36 mark. Michaud and freshman Alicen Burnham (Monmouth, Maine) set up the tally with quick passes as Mattos finished with a kick from the top of the box to the upper left corner.
The 2-0 score held until the 48th minute, when Michaud received a pass from Emery inside the box and twisted a shot to the top right corner of the net. The junior sniper struck again 14 minutes later on a setup from sophomore Aaliyah Wilson-Falcone (Winthrop, Maine), who corralled a long goalie kick from Adia Grogan (Kennebunk, Maine) near midfield and flicked on a pass to Michaud, who broke free on a breakaway and completed the hat trick with a shot to the right side of the net.
The Blazers finally found the scoreboard at the 64:12 mark, when Abby Goodnow (Chesterfield, Mass.) took advantage of an SJC defensive breakdown and beat sophomore keeper Carley Downey (Yarmouth, Maine) – who entered the game literally 10 seconds earlier – off a pass from Kelly Malheiro (Centereach, N.Y.).
The Monks capped the scoring in the 69th minute, when Wilson-Falcone hit pay dirt off a perfect left-to-right pass in the box from senior Maddi Cormier (Bangor, Maine).
TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (16-7), shots on goal (13-6), and corner kicks (5-2) in the triumph.
THE KEEPERS:
Grogan picked up her second win of the season after posted four saves in 64:08 minutes of shutout play and Downey registered one save in 25:52 minutes of relief. DelGuidice took the loss after allowing five goals while making eight stops over 90 minutes.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
Today's matchup versus Elms College was the first between the Blazers' and Monks' women's soccer programs. A former member of the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC), Elms is a first-year participant in the GNAC this fall.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will play at Emerson College on Wednesday in a non-conference tilt slated to begin at 6:00 PM.