OWN GOAL LIFTS SAINTS PAST FALCONS, 3-2 (OT)

BOSTON, Mass. – An own goal plus a pair of tallies by senior forward Stefano Sainato (Albany, N.Y.) lifted the Emmanuel College men's soccer team past Albertus Magnus College, 3-2, in overtime Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference action at Clemente Field. The win lifts the Saints to 3-3 overall and a 2-0 start in GNAC play for the first time since 2010. The loss drops the Falcons to 4-2 overall in 1-1 in the GNAC.

With the Saints trailing 2-1 late in regulation, Sainato made sure to send the game into extra time with his fourth goal of the campaign with only 5:56 left in the second half. The senior was the beneficiary of a low cross by classmate David Field (Laguna Niguel, Calif.), redirecting the ball into the back of the net to even the score at 2-2.

Emmanuel had a chance to win the game just before the regulation horn as junior Colin O'Donnell (Killingworth, Conn.) found himself on a semi-break away on the right side of the pitch but his shot with two seconds left on the clock was denied by Falcons sophomore keeper Griffin Volta (Orange, Conn.) to send the game into overtime.

Playing in their second consecutive extra session affair, the Saints made sure to come out aggressively, getting off a shot on goal just 26 seconds into the action. The Falcons would answer less than a minute later with an attempt from 25 yards out that was wide. After the early shots, the overtime session became very physical with several fouls called in a short period of time.

With just over one minute remaining in the first overtime, Field found himself deep in Falcon territory, driving the ball to the visitor's endline. The California native hit a low ball with pace into the Albertus Magnus six yard box and amidst the action, a Falcon defender inadvertently deflected the ball into the net for an own goal to send Emmanuel off with a 3-2 win.

The Saints got on the board very early in the action with Sainato's first goal of the day just 2:16 into regulation. Sainato used a through ball from junior forward Jordan Maurer (Florence, Mass.) to get back the AMC back line before chipping the shot over Volta to give EC the 1-0 lead.

Albertus Magnus tied the score during the 27^th minute of play on the first goal of the year by sophomore forward Ritchy Jean Pierre (Fairfield, Conn.). Pierre ran through a ball played deep in the Emmanuel box by junior Alexis Garcia (West Haven, Conn.) and beat EC senior keeper James Withers (East Taunton, Mass.) to even the score at 1-1.

The Falcons took the lead at 2-1 at 56:44 on a direct kick struck by junior Alex Zapata (Hamden, Conn.). Zapata was pulled down just outside the Saints' 18-yard box and on the restart, curved a right-footed strike around the Emmanuel wall and into the upper third of the frame for his team-leading fifth goal of the year.

The two-goal outing for Sainato was his second of the year as he also scored twice in the Saints 3-2 GNAC win over Saint Joseph's (ME) last weekend, marking the first time in program history that a player has registered multi-goal outings in consecutive conference games.

Withers notches the win making six saves in goal for Emmanuel while Volta suffers the loss despite a seven save outing for Albertus Magnus.  

The Saints return to action on Wednesday, Sept. 23 when they head across to river to face MIT at 7:00 PM while the Falcons host Mitchell College the same day at 4:00 PM.