Men’s Soccer Nets Season-High Six in Senior Day Shutout Win vs. Elms

THE BASICS 

Score: 
Emmanuel 6 – Elms 0

Records: 
Emmanuel College Saints (6-4-6, 4-3-4 GNAC)
Elms College Blazers (4-11-1, 2-8-1 GNAC)

Location: Boston, Mass. – Clemente Field

Date: Saturday, October 22, 2022

THE LEAD – An outburst of half-a-dozen goals for the Emmanuel Saints men's soccer team led them to a 6-0 victory on Saturday afternoon over Elms College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action.

Prior to the start of the match, the Emmanuel men's soccer program recognized seniors Cole Berry (Carver, Mass.), Alec Erskine (Coventry, R.I.), Doug Jones (Glastonbury, Conn.), and Jonathan Marmolejos (Randolph, Mass.) for their contributions to the program.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Two goals scored 67 seconds apart had the Saints quickly ahead 2-0 early. In the 14^th minute, Erskine slid a left-footed pass from inside the box to the front of the net, where sophomore Joey Soucy (Attleboro, Mass.) snuck in a close in shot, just under the crossbar. Just a minute later in the 15^th, sophomore Pedro-Andres Vasquez (Frisco, Texas) benefitted from a deflected cross, beating all Blazers to the ball, and poking a header past the Elms goalie for a 2-0 lead.
• Soucy would strike again, this time in the 21^st minute, running in behind the Blazers defense. A clearance from the Saints backline by Jones fell favorably for Soucy, who played a self-flick on that got him in behind the defense. From near the top of the area, Soucy slid a shot past the Blazers keeper, giving him his second goal of the game while helping Jones record his first career point with the assist.
• First-year Joe Anderson (Tampa, Fla.) would finish off the first half scoring for Emmanuel with his second of the campaign. Anderson fought for a loose ball in the Elms penalty area, eventually winning out a battle for the ball before firing a right-footed toe poke into the right-side netting, giving the Saints a 4-0 lead.
• The Saints would add two goals in the second half, including the first career collegiate goal for first-year Kevin Millington (Fairfield, Conn.), followed by a record-breaking score by Erskine.
• In the 83^rd minute, Erskine cut into the Elms penalty area on his left foot, firing a shot that ended up being blocked, but the loose ball again found Erskine, who poked a left-footed shot into the back of the net, recording his 69^th career collegiate point, setting the new all-time mark for career points in program history.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Soucy's pair of first-half goals give him a team-best eight on the season. The second-year forward also leads the team with 20 points after picking up an assist on the Saints second tally of the afternoon.
• First-year Ryan Ragosta (Lincoln, R.I.) picked up his second helper of the year, assisting on the Millington tally in the 63^rd minute.
• Grad student Vincent Conelli (West Hartford, Conn.) played the first half in the Emmanuel goal, recording two saves and improving to 6-4-5 this season before being replaced by first-year Maddox Pierce (Meriden, Conn.) for the second half. Pierce also stopped two shots in his 45 minutes.
• Blazers senior Musa Jiana (Chicopee, Mass.) led Elms with three shots but only one of them on target.
• Senior Collin Liedke (Newington, Conn.) made the start in goal but fell to 4-10-1 in the loss.

UP NEXT

• The Saints finish up the regular season with a trip to Colby-Sawyer on Tuesday, Oct. 25, with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m. in GNAC play.
• The Blazers host Norwich on Wednesday, Oct. 26 to finish up their regular season. The season finale match is set for 7:00 p.m.