PHOTO COURTESY OF BRIAN BERTHIAUME '24
STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (10-6-0, 9-2-0 GNAC) toppled Simmons University (2-10-1, 2-6-1 GNAC), 6-0, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's soccer matchup at the SJC Athletics Complex on Saturday afternoon.
SENIOR MOMENT:
Before the start of the contest the Monks held a brief ceremony to honor the program's nine seniors: Emma Auclair (Kittery, Maine), Caitlin Callahan (Gorham, Maine), Maddi Cormier (Bangor, Maine), Ashley Emery (Madison, Maine), Elizabeth Flynn (Kennebunk, Maine), Adia Grogan (Kennebunk, Maine), Kayley Mattos (Mahopac, N.Y.), Kimberly Santos (Medford, Mass.), and Eilidh Sidaway (Dedham, Maine).
This impressive senior class has led the Royal Blue to a 40-14-3 (.702) overall record with a 28-6-1 (.800) mark in GNAC play with a pair of GNAC Championship game appearances. As freshmen, these players helped the Monks win the 2018 GNAC Championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Monks scored early and often and dominated the pace of play in what was the program's most lopsided victory since September 28th, 2018, when St. Joe's beat Anna Maria by a 9-0 margin.
Cormier kicked off the scoring with two goals in a matter of two minutes, as the senior forward found the back of the net off an Auclair assist in the 14th minute and potted an unassisted marker at the 15:47 mark to account for the Monks' early offensive production.
Santos tacked on an unassisted tally at the 28:08 mark and Emery capped the string of four-consecutive goals scored by seniors with Mattos getting the assist in the 33rd minute.
Freshman Aaliyah Wilson-Falcone (Winthrop, Maine) netted her second goal of the season at the 39:25 timestamp and sophomore Tatum Hancock (Damariscotta, Maine) completed the game-scoring with her third of the year in the 62nd minute.
TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (23-10), shots on goal (12-5), and corner kicks (6-1) in the victory.
THE KEEPERS:
The Monks employed three goalies in the triumph, as Grogan started and made a pair of saves in 51:22 between the pipes, freshman Alexandra Southworth (Rockport, Maine) turned away two shots in 20:38 minutes of relief, and sophomore Carly Downey (Yarmouth, Maine) stopped one shot in 18 minutes of mop-up duty.
Simmons netminder Marita Nothacker made six saves in the losing effort.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 10-6-1 all-time versus Simmons University and has now defeated the Sharks in three-consecutive meetings dating back to the 2018 season.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will play at Johnson & Wales University in a rematch of the 2019 GNAC Championship game next Saturday at 4:00 PM.
