MEN'S SOCCER: SJC Monks Claim Fourth GNAC Crown in Five Years

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Courtesy of SJC Athletics Communications

STANDISH, Maine – Freshman forward Gus Ford (Falmouth, Maine) scored in the 107th minute to break a scoreless tie and lift #1 Saint Joseph's College (16-1-2) past second-seeded Norwich University (14-3-1), 1-0, in the 2021 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Soccer Championship at the SJC Athletics Complex on Saturday afternoon.

With the triumph, Saint Joseph's secures the GNAC's automatic qualifier into the NCAA DIII Men's Soccer Tournament, which starts next Friday or Saturday. The entire 2021 national tourney bracket will be announced Monday on www.ncaa.com on a live selection show at 1:30 PM.

The GNAC Championship is the sixth for the Monks – as well as fourth in the last five seasons – and first for third-year Head Coach Will Pike '11, who played a hand in the program's 2017 and 2018 titles as the team's top assistant. A former standout goalkeeper and SJC Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, Pike was the GNAC Tournament MVP for the Monks' first GNAC crown in 2009.

With the loss, the Cadets' outstanding 2021 season comes to a close.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
Norwich had multiple scoring chances, but perhaps none better than a Hunter Lortie (Manchester, N.H.) shot taken at the 9:30 mark. With the Cadets driving down the sideline, SJC graduate keeper David Walbridge (Hampden, Mass.) broke up a crossing pass from the left corner but was unable to corral the loose ball, which found the foot of Lortie, who unleashed a kick headed for an empty net. St. Joe's senior defender Jarred Greenleaf (Scarborough, Maine) denied the attempt with a jab kick and cleared the ball safely to midfield.

A near carbon copy of the play occurred on the opposite end of the field as the first half clock was expiring. Senior midfielder Austin Ward (North Andover, Mass.) found a seam on the left side of the Cadets' box and delivered a shot that was blocked by Norwich junior keeper Robert Wagenseller (Poway, Calif.), who allowed a rebound to go right back to the foot of Ward. With an empty net, Ward steered a shot on target that was swept away by freshman midfielder Kam Jorgenson (Titusville, Fla.) as the game clock hit zero.

For the remainder of regulation, both teams had chances with the Cadets having the lion's share of opportunities., though many of their shots sailed high or wide of the goal. Walbridge made several big saves and managed to grab the ball out of the air on at least a handful of set pieces.

Norwich outshot Saint Joseph's by a 7-1 margin in the two overtime periods combined, but six of the Cadets' attempts were off the mark.

The Monks finally broke free of the scoreless stalemate at the 106:16 mark. Working up the right sideline, Ward received a pass from Noah Elmore (Berlin, Vt.) and side-stepped a defender before hitting senior Kuma Onyejose (East Greenwich, R.I.) in stride with a lead pass. Onyejose sped past several Cadet defenders and dealt a perfect right-to-left cross to Ford, who was going to goal in the middle of the box and tapped a shot past Wagenseller for the win.

TEAM STATS:
Norwich held the lead in shots (24-7), shots on goal (8-3) and corner kicks (13-5) in a losing effort.

THE KEEPERS:
Walbridge was outstanding with seven saves in the victory while Wagenseller stopped a pair of shots for the visitors.

NOTEWORTHY:
Norwich junior Joseph Thongsythavong (Salem, Mass.) led all players with 10 shots, including three on goal, but saw his 12-game goal-scoring streak end, as he was held without a tally for the first time since September 18th, when St. Joe's topped the Cadets, 1-0 in Northfield.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
Saint Joseph's is 12-4-5 all-time versus Norwich University and has not suffered a defeat at the hands of the Cadets since the 2015 season. The Monks own a 4-1 record versus the Cadets in GNAC Championship meetings, as SJC fell to Norwich in 2008 but prevailed in 2011, 2016 (via PK's), 2017, and 2021.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM:
MVP: Gus Ford, Saint Joseph's
Noah Elmore, Saint Joseph's
David Walbridge, Saint Joseph's
Austin Ward, Saint Joseph's
Michael Wildes, Saint Joseph's
Kam Jorgenson, Norwich
Joseph Thongsythavong, Norwich
Amerle Nemeye, Norwich
Kevin Reilly, Johnson & Wales
Nick Gutenkunst, Johnson & Wales
Dane Stephens, University of Saint Joseph
Michael Torres, University of Saint Joseph