MONKS TOP SAINTS TO EARN GNAC TOURNEY BERTH

STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (5-14-0, 3-6-0 GNAC) blanked Emmanuel College (5-9-2, 4-5-0 GNAC), 2-0, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's soccer match at Westerlea Way Field on Saturday afternoon. With the victory, the Monks claim the #8 seed in the GNAC Tournament and will play at top-seeded Johnson & Wales University in a conference quarterfinal next Saturday.  Emmanuel has secured a playoff berth as the #6 seed and will play at 3rd-seeded Lasell College in quarterfinal action.

As it played out, the Monks netted the only offense they would require in the 41st minute, when sophomore Jack Murray (Hingham, Mass.) scored his second goal of the season. In transition, sophomore Sean Baker (Medfield, Mass.) found space rushing up the right side and needled a pass to the left, through a pair of defenders, to Murray, who sent an odd-angle shot, taken from the right side of the box, into the left corner of the net for the 1-0 lead.

The slim margin held true until the 89th minute when sophomore Victor Santos (Framingham, Mass.) potted his fifth marker of the year. Led with a bouncing pass from freshman Austin Bell (Gorham, Maine), Santos duked a defender in the box and beat Emmanuel senior keeper Garrett Charette (West Springfield, Mass.) with a shot to the right panel of the net to account for the 2-0 final.

Requiring a victory to keep their season alive, the Monks responded with perhaps their best all-around performance of the year, as evidenced by the resounding shots advantage (23-8) as well as the 4-2 edge in corner kicks. Junior keeper Scott Benner (Post Falls, Idaho) made one save to record his fourth shutout of the season, while Charette tallied 11 stops in the losing effort for the Saints.

Prior to the start of the match, Saint Joseph's held a brief ceremony to honor the Monks' three seniors: Robert Petrosillo (Methuen, Mass.), Garrett Darnell (Gray, Maine) and Jason Wade (South Hampton, N.H.). This trio has helped the Monks post a 39-35-3 (.527) record with four GNAC Tournament appearances as well as a conference championship in 2011.

With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 6-2-1 all-time versus Emmanuel College with today's triumph counting as the Monks' first-ever shutout win over the Saints. Interestingly, all five of the Monks' victories this fall have been of the shutout variety. 

 The Saints will play one final regular season non-conference match this Wednesday night, when Emmanuel hosts MIT in a 7:00 PM start.  The two seniors on the Emmanuel squad (Charette and James Carroll) will be honored prior to the start of the game.

- Release courtesy of Saint Joseph's Sports Information