SAINTS ADVANCE TO GNAC FINALS WITH 1-0 WIN OVER JWU
BOSTON, Mass. – Junior midfielder Kaitlyn Fink (Sanford, Maine) scored the game’s only goal to lift the Emmanuel College women’s soccer team past Johnson & Wales University, 1-0, Wednesday evening in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference semifinals match played at Roberto Clemente Field. The No. 2 Saints improve to 13-9 on the year and have now won seven of eight contests while the loss drops the No. 6 Wildcats to 10-10-2.
BOSTON, Mass. – Junior midfielder Kaitlyn Fink (Sanford, Maine) scored the game's only goal to lift the Emmanuel College women's soccer team past Johnson & Wales University, 1-0, Wednesday evening in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference semifinals match played at Roberto Clemente Field. The No. 2 Saints improve to 13-9 on the year and have now won seven of eight contests while the loss drops the No. 6 Wildcats to 10-10-2.
After over 76 minutes of scoreless action, the Saints found the back of the net to secure the program's first trip to the GNAC finals since 2009. The scoring play started on Emmanuel's defensive third as junior back Ari Cardillo (Richmond, Mass.) played a long clear to senior forward Kelsie Dumas (Dalton, Mass.). Dumas was able to get by the Johnson & Wales back line with pace, carrying the ball all the way to the end line before pinging a cross back into the six yard box. JWU junior goalkeeper Alex Place (East Greenwich, R.I.) tried to intercept the cross but the ball slipped through her hands and into traffic. Fink was able to win a foot race with one of the Wildcats backs and tap home her fifth goal of the season with 13:49 left to play in regulation.
Over the final 13 minutes of action, the Wildcats were able to get deep into the Saints defensive territory but were unable to get any shots off. Their best opportunity came with under two minutes to play following an Emmanuel foul on their own side of the field. On the ensuing free kick, JWU played a ball deep in the box but the cross was cleared to prevent any scoring opportunity.
In the opening stanza, the two squads battled with neither team owning a clear advantage in a very physical 45 minutes of soccer. The Saints had the first scoring opportunity of the match just 2:18 into the game when Dumas hit a shot on target but was denied by Place.
The Wildcats best scoring opportunity of the night came during the 11th minute of play when senior midfielder Megan Dockweiler (Wantagh, N.Y.) fired a shot that was blocked but the rebound found the foot of her classmate Kaitlyn Whalen (Whittier, Calif.) who drilled a shot on frame that forced EC rookie goalie Victoria Laroche (Hudson, N.H.) to make a save going away from the net.
Emmanuel owned a 9-4 shots advantage in the first half and ended the match outshooting the Wildcats 13-6. Both teams attempted five corners on the night, all coming in the first half of play.
Laroche ended the game with just the one save to record her 11th victory of the season. The rookie owns a 0.00 goals against average in the tournament heading into the finals and on the year is boasting an .812 save percentage.
Place made five saves in net for Johnson & Wales.
The Saints will look to capture the program's third GNAC Championship and first since 2007 when they downed Emerson College in the finals, 4-1. They have the tough task of knocking off the four-time defending champions and No.1 seed, Lasell College. During their regular season meeting, the Lasers captured a 2-0 win on Sept. 27 but since then, the Saints have posted a 10-2 mark and outscored their opponents 31-10. The GNAC Women's Soccer Championship game will be played on Saturday, November 8 at 1:00 PM at Taylor Field on the Lasell College campus.