MEN’S SOCCER TO FACE NORWICH IN GNAC QUARTERFINALS

BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College men's soccer team will travel to Northfield, Vt. to take on Norwich University in the 2015 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Quarterfinals this Sunday, November 1 with kickoff scheduled for 1:00 PM. The Saints earn the No. 5 seed in the eight-team field for the program's highest-ever seeding while the Cadets boast the No. 4 seed, seeking the programs fifth GNAC title.

This marks Emmanuel's eighth berth and third consecutive appearance in the GNAC tournament while Norwich earns its 17 consecutive appearance, having qualified every single season since 1999 when they joined the GNAC. The Saints are 1-7 all-time in the GNAC playoffs, with their lone win coming in 2011 with a 3-2 victory over Emerson College. The Cadets boast a GNAC tournament record of 27-11-2 with GNAC championships is 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2008.

The squads have met twice before in GNAC Quarterfinal action with Norwich capturing both meetings by scores of 3-0 in 2006 and 2010. It has been an uphill climb for the Saints who have never beaten Norwich as the Cadets own the all-time series at 15-0-1, with the lone tie coming in 2005 in a 1-1 (2OT) draw in which current Emmanuel Director of Athletic Communications, Dan Campagna ('07), made a career-high 22 saves to help the Saints earn their only point ever against Norwich.

In their meeting earlier this season, Emmanuel gave the Cadets all they could handle in a 2-1 (2OT) loss up in Northfield, Vt. The Saints went ahead 1-0 with a first half goal by junior forward Jordan Maurer (Florence, Mass.) before Norwich junior forward Jacob Zimmerman (Litchfield, N.H.) evened the game at 1-1 in the 56^th minute of play. Senior back Zach Garcia (Yuma, Ariz.) scored his first and only goal of the season in the second overtime period to give the hosts the win on October 3.

The Saints are led by senior captain David Field (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) who enters the postseason with a team-high 19 points on seven goals and five assists. Senior forward Stefano Sainato (Albany, N.Y.) ranks second in points/goals with six and 14, respectively.

For the Cadets, Zimmerman leads the way with 10 goals, three assists and 23 points while junior midfielder Moab Schiers (South Weber, Utah) shares the team-lead in points with 23 on nine goals and five helpers. Rookie keeper Stefan Skoff (San Jose, Calif.) has been solid all season posting a 0.99 goals against average with a .809 save percentage for NU.

The winner of Sunday's quarterfinal will take on the winner of the No. 8 Suffolk University vs. No. 1 Johnson & Wales University contest on Tuesday, November 4 at the site of the higher seed.