No. 6 Men's Soccer Heads for Second-Ever GNAC Semis, No. 2 JWU Awaits

BOSTON – For just the second time in the program's 21-year history, the Emmanuel Saints men's soccer program is headed for the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Semifinal Round after upsetting Norwich in the GNAC quarterfinals last Saturday afternoon. The No. 6 seed Saints head to the No. 2 seed Johnson & Wales on Wednesday, Nov. 2, for a 7:00 p.m. match and a spot in the conference championship game for the winner.

OVERVIEW:

Emmanuel's trip to the semifinals came courtesy of a penalty kick shootout win at No. 2 Norwich. Saturday's quarterfinal ended 1-1 after extra time, but with 3-of-4 Norwich PKs stopped by first-year Maddox Pierce (Meriden, Conn.), matched with 3-for-3 from the dot by Saints PK takers, Emmanuel took out Norwich in an upset win.

Johnson & Wales looked set for extra time against No. 7 Lasell, but an 83^rd minute rebound goal that originated from a PK was scored by sophomore Connor Elliott (Mansfield, Mass.), putting JWU through to the semifinals with a 2-1 victory.

The other GNAC semifinal has the top-seeded Saint Joseph's College Monks welcoming the No. 4 seeded University of Saint Joseph's Blue Jays to the SJC Athletics Complex on Nov. 2. The Monks reached the semis following a 4-0 win over No. 8 Anna Maria while the Blue Jays scored a 109^th minute tally to take a 3-2 win in their quarterfinal win over No. 5 Albertus Magnus.

The winner of the GNAC Championship game, set for Saturday, Nov. 5, earns an automatic berth into the 2022 NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship, which begins on Friday, Nov. 11th.

SEASON AT A GLANCE:

Emmanuel:

• The Saints defense took a major step in 2022, allowing the fewest goals to this point in a season in program history with 15, besting the previous low from last season by nine goals. This season may also mark the first time in the team's 21-year history that the Saints allow less than a goal per game as the team's goals against average currently sits at 0.82.
• Officially recognized as a tie by NCAA standards, Saturday's draw at Norwich capped off an unbeaten month for the Saints, who went 4-0-5 through October, completing their first unbeaten month in program history. Dating back to September, Emmanuel is unbeaten in their last 10 matches, setting a program record for longest unbeaten streak in a season.
• The Saints hold one of the better records among GNAC teams on the road this season, going 5-2-3 away from Clemente, including a 4-0-3 record in their final six road games.
• Emmanuel enters the GNAC postseason with 33 goals this season, including six players with at least two goals scored. ECs 1.81 goals scored per game are the program's most since the 2016 season when the team averaged 1.92 goals/game.

Johnson & Wales:

• The Wildcats are the only remaining GNAC team to allow under 10 goals to opponents in all competitions this season. In 18 games, JWU has surrendered just eight goals, a total that has them ranked in a tie for eighth for the fewest total goals allowed along with being ranked eighth in Division III in goals against average at 0.444, as of the end of play on Oct. 30.
• After starting the season 1-1-1, Johnson & Wales has gone on a 15-match unbeaten run. JWUs only loss of the season came on Sept. 7 at Roger Williams, and what followed is a 13-0-2 run in the Wildcats 15-game unbeaten streak.
• JWU is the conference's only unbeaten team at home in all competitions this season, going 8-0-2 on Scotts Miracle-Gro Athletic Complex. In addition, the Wildcats were the conference's only unbeaten team in GNAC play this season, going 10-0-2 during the year in conference matches.
• Scotts Miracle-Gro Athletic Complex has been one of the GNACs toughest spots to play in recent history. Since 2017, the Wildcats are 30-2-5 at home against conference opponents, including playoffs. Their last home loss to a conference opponent came on Nov. 1, 2017, in a 2-1 loss to Norwich. Since that defeat and including playoffs, Johnson & Wales hasn't lost to a GNAC team at home in 30 consecutive matches, going 26-0-4 in that span.

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

Emmanuel:

• Senior Alec Erskine (Coventry, R.I.) rewrote the career program record books following a year of 10 goals, three assists, and 23 points. After scoring ECs lone goal of the quarterfinals, the senior striker has 33 career goals, 13 career game-winners, and 76 career points, all career program records.
• Saints sophomore Joey Soucy (Attleboro, Mass.) matched Erskine with 10 goals on the year, setting a new career-high for goals in a season in the process. Soucy assisted on Erskine's quarterfinal goal, upping his assist total to six. The second year forward became the third person in program history to eclipse 25 points in a single season, as Soucy is up to 26 points this year.
• Six Saints have appeared in all 18 matches for the program this season with four of those six players being critical members of a cohesive backline that has helped in allowing just 15 goals to opponents. The four-man back line of senior Cole Berry (Carver, Mass.) and juniors Luke Hines (Bristol, Conn.), Ryan McKinney (North Reading, Mass.), and Connor Pierre (Albany, N.Y.) have appeared in all 18 matches for the Saints defense this season.

Johnson & Wales:

• Wildcats sophomore Brian Miller (Ramsey, N.J.) has a team-high seven goals on the season and earned his first assist of the campaign in JWUs quarterfinal win over Lasell. Miller's penalty kick was stopped by the Lasers goalie, but with Elliott scoring on the next touch, Miller earned the helper on the game-winning goal.
• Elliott leads Johnson & Wales with 17 points on the season, coming into Wednesday's semifinal with six goals and five assists this season. The second-year midfielder isn't afraid to take his opportunities as he leads the team with 56 shots and 30 shots on goal.
• Graduate student Ricky Africo (North Providence, R.I.) has six assists on the campaign, leading the team, while also contributing four goals to total 14 points. Africo, along with Miller and Elliott, are three of nine Wildcats that have appeared in all 18 games for JWU this year.

KEEPER COMPARISON:

Emmanuel:

Saints graduate student goalie Vincent Conelli (West Hartford, Conn.) has started all but one match for EC this season, holding a 7-4-6 record in 17 starts. This year, Conelli has a career-low 0.88 goals against average, a career best 0.816 save percentage, and career-highs with seven wins and six shutouts. Entering Wednesday's match, Conelli's career GAA of 1.18 would stand as the lowest in program history.

Johnson & Wales:

Senior Jacob Friedman (Woodland Hills, Calif.) has played in 17 matches for the Wildcats this season, earning 15 starts, to come into Wednesday's play with a 13-1-3 record. Friedman leads the GNAC with the lowest GAA (0.493), matched with the conference's best save percentage (0.830) this year. The senior netminder's GAA ranks 11^th lowest in Division III, as of the end of play on Oct. 30.

COACHES' CORNER:

Emmanuel's Dan Roberts is in his seventh season as head coach of the Saints, holding a career record of 39-49-22 record in 111 career games, including playoffs. This marks the first GNAC semifinal appearance for Roberts as head coach. In addition, the Saints haven't missed the GNAC postseason since Roberts took over in 2016.

Head coach David Kulik is in his 11^th year with Johnson & Wales, holding a 141-41-23 record in 205 career games as head coach at JWU. Kulik has 103 career wins at Clark University to boost his total record to 244-126-46 in a career that spans 23 years. As Wildcats head coach, Kulik and JWU have won four GNAC championships and three regular season conference championships.

THE LAST TIME WE MET:

The regular season match for Emmanuel and Johnson & Wales was the GNAC opener for the Saints, in what turned out to be a 1-1 draw on Sept. 14.

Early in the first half, Soucy gave EC a 1-0 lead after a long ball over the top and behind the JWU defense put Soucy 15 yards from goal toward the right side of the box. Soucy took the bouncing ball and fired a shot, beating Friedman to the near post just 10 minutes into the game.

Emmanuel defended brilliantly through the entire match, but a last-minute equalizer by Miller tied things at 1-1. Elliott made the play happen, cutting into the left side of the EC box and driving toward the goal line. Elliott cut back a pass to Miller, who found a pocket of space in the Saints defense that allowed him to strike a one-time shot past Conelli, resulting in the early season draw.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

Emmanuel holds a 2-20-1 record all-time against Johnson & Wales, including 0-3-0 in the postseason. All three postseason meetings have come in the GNAC quarterfinals making this the first appearance in the semifinals between the Saints and Wildcats.

POSTSEASON HISTORY:

The Saints are in their 13^th GNAC tournament since joining the conference in 2002. In the previous 12 years, the Saints are 1-11-3 in postseason play, with the lone regulation win coming in a 3-2 victory over Emerson in 2012. EC is 1-2 in penalty shootouts; winning their first PK shootout against Norwich last Saturday. The pair of losses in PKs happened first in 2005 against Albertus Magnus and again in the 2021 season at Norwich.

COVERAGE:

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