SJC Men's Soccer Breaks NCAA Shutouts Record, Norwich Upsets JWU in GNAC Semis
Top seed Saint Joseph's took control of #5 Regis, 6-0, in Wednesday's GNAC semifinal, while #3 Norwich defeat #2 JWU, 2-1, on the road to set up a rematch of last year's championship this Saturday.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
#1 Saint Joseph's of Maine 6, #5 Regis (Mass.) 0
STANDISH, Maine – Top-seeded Saint Joseph's College (17-0-1) handled #5 Regis (Mass.) (10-8-1), 6-0, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Soccer Tournament Semifinal at the SJC Athletics Complex on Wednesday afternoon.
BROKEN RECORDS:
With the shutout, Saint Joseph's - ranked 19th nationally - breaks the NCAA Men's Soccer (all three levels) record with 18 consecutive shutouts. The previous record of 17 straight shutouts was set by Drew University during the 2003 campaign.
Saint Joseph's junior goalkeeper Blake Mullen (Manchester, Conn.) extended his consecutive shutout minutes streak to 1,505 minutes and 36 seconds, which also counts as the longest stretch without yielding a goal in the history of NCAA Men's Soccer. The previous record was held by former Drew keeper Peter Boyer, who logged 1,428 consecutive shutout minutes in 2003.
PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:
Today's victory sets up a rematch of the 2016 conference title game, as Saint Joseph's will host #3 Norwich University in the 2017 GNAC Championship on Saturday at 1:00 PM. The Monks and Cadets dueled to a 0-0 stalemate in last year's championship, with the former outdueling the latter in penalty kicks, 4-2.
Norwich returns to the championship game after upsetting #2 Johnson & Wales University, 2-1, in other semifinal action this afternoon. The Monks and Cadets played to a 0-0 tie earlier this fall.
With the loss, Regis (Mass.) – a first-year GNAC member - bows out of the tournament.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Monks kicked off the game scoring in the 13th minute, when sophomores Cody Elliott (Gorham, Maine) and Mitchell Duncan(Sanford, Maine) connected to provide their team with an early lead. Working in the right corner, Duncan delivered a perfect right-to-left cross to Elliott, who headed the ball in for his second goal of the season.
The 1-0 lead remained until the 63rd minute, when junior Brett Mattos (Mahopac, N.Y.) scored on a beautiful bicycle kick bid off a Sean Baker (Medfield, Mass.) pass. The Monks tacked on goals from Ryan Buonaiuto (Scituate, R.I.) and Jesse Ramirez (Dumont, N.J.) during a four-minute span and freshman Noah Elmore (Berlin, Vt.) notched a pair of markers just five minutes apart to close out the scoring ledger.
THE KEEPERS:
Mullen picked up the victory and improves to 17-0-1 after stopping the only shot he faced in 81 minutes and 29 seconds of action. Junior Coleman Reifke (Loudon, N.H.) was untested in eight minutes and 31 seconds of relief duty.
Regis (Mass.) junior Jesse Bonilla (Ramona, Calif.) allowed six goals and made seven saves over 87 minutes of work while junior Andrew Barros (Malden, Mass.) did not face a shot in three minutes of mop-up work.
TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held wide advantages in shots (28-4), shots on goal (13-1), and corner kicks (7-2) in the victory.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 2-0 in the series versus Regis (Mass.). The Monks blanked the Pride, 3-0, earlier this fall.
Courtesy of SJC Athletics Communications.
#3 Norwich 2, #2 Johnson & Wales 1
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Norwich University men's soccer team shocked No. 2-seed Johnson & Wales (RI) 2-1 on Wednesday night in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) semifinals at the Scotts Miracle-Gro Athletic Complex.
The Cadets (11-3-5, 6-0-4 GNAC) capitalized on two Johnson & Wales' own goals to advance to their fifth GNAC title game appearance in the last seven years. NU will take on No. 1 seed Saint Joseph's (Maine) for the second straight year in a rematch of the 2016 title game. The two teams battled to a 0-0 scoreless tie through two overtimes, before Saint Joseph's (Maine) won 4-2 in penalty kicks to claim the crown.
Norwich won in Providence for the first time since 2011, ending a four-game winless streak at Johnson & Wales, including two previous playoff defeats in 2014 and 2015.
The Cadets ended Johnson & Wales' (15-2-2) season for the second straight year after they beat the Wildcats 2-0 in last year's semifinals. JWU had ended Norwich's season the last two years in the middle of their three straight GNAC titles streak.
Norwich took a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute with a shot by Staige Davis(Shelburne, Vt.) deflected off a JWU defender and into the back of the net for just the sixth goal against the Wildcats this season.
JWU tied the game back up in the 54th minute with Jason Cruz scoring his second of the season off an assist from Yohann Assouramou. Cruz tapped in a through ball into the bottom left corner of the net to level the score.
Norwich took the lead for good in the 69th minute with Matt Mazzola (Ridgefield, Conn.) heading a ball off a JWU defender's foot into the right corner of the net to take a 2-1 lead. Davis took the corner kick service from the right and Mazzola was the first to get a head on the ball in the box.
JWU outshot Norwich 22-11 in the game, including a 16-6 edge in the second half. The Cadets had five corner kicks to JWU's one.
NU junior goalie Brendan Germano (Monroe Township, N.J.) made six saves to improve to 11-3-5 on the season. Nicholas Mancini made five saves for JWU to close the year at 14-2-1.
Norwich stretched its unbeaten streak to 24-straight games vs. GNAC opponents with the victory. The Cadets last loss to a GNAC opponent came to Johnson & Wales in the 2015 GNAC semifinals.
Norwich will now travel to St. Joseph's (Maine) for a 1 p.m. showdown with the top-seeded Monks on Saturday at the SJC Athletic Complex. The two teams have played to three straight scoreless 110-minute draws in the last three meetings.
The two teams have met in the GNAC finals twice before with the Monks scoring a 4-1 win in 2011 and winning last year as well in penalty kicks.
Saint Joseph's (Maine) has won three GNAC titles (2009, 2011, 2016), while Norwich has won four (2000, 2001, 2002, 2008).
Courtesy of Norwich Athletics Communications.
Sunday, October 29 - Quarterfinals
Game 1: #1 Saint Joseph's of Maine 1, #8 Suffolk 0 | BOX
Game 2: #5 Regis (Mass.) 3, #4 Mount Ida 1 | BOX
Game 3: #3 Norwich 2, #6 Emmanuel 0 | BOX
Game 4: #2 Johnson & Wales 1, #7 Albertus Magnus 0 | BOX
Wednesday, November 1 - Semifinals
Game 5: #1 Saint Joseph's of Maine 6, #5 Regis (Mass.) 0
Game 6: #3 Norwich 2, #2 Johnson & Wales 1
Saturday, November 4 - Final
Game 7: #3 Norwich at #1 Saint Joseph's of Maine - 1:00 PM
Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 13 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement.
– #TheGNAC –