Men's Soccer Shutout In Battle For Saint Joseph Supremacy

STANDISH, Maine – Two first-half goals off the bench proved to be the difference-maker for the Monks, as the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's soccer team lost a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) road matchup with Saint Joseph's College of Maine (SJC), 3-0, on Saturday afternoon at the SJC Athletics Complex. With the loss, the Blue Jays have dropped three of their last six, slipping to 8-4-0 overall and 4-2-0 in the GNAC, while the Monks improve to 11-0-2 and 6-0-1.

The Monks were in command most of the way, holding a deciding advantage in shots (20-2), shots on goal (13-2) and corner kicks (6-1). All three goals by SJC were assisted.

Freshman goalie John Griffin (Southington, Conn.) did all he could to stop the swarming Monks, saving a season-high 13 shots, but it was not enough, as sophomore forward Kuma Onyejose (East Greenwich, R.I.) and sophomore midfielder Austin Ward (North Andover, Mass.) both connected off the bench for SJC in the first half. Onyejose subbed in during the 11th minute, and scored less than two minutes later on a setup from senior midfielder Mitchell Duncan (Sanford, Maine).

Shot after shot, the Monks applied the pressure, and looked to add an insurance goal. They would do so as the half came to a close, with Ward picking up his sixth netter of 2019 with a score in the 43rd minute. SJC held a commanding 2-0 lead, with the Blue Jays only able to attempt a single shot on goal in the first half.

The Monks remained on offense in the second half, snagging their third goal of the game on a slicing score from senior forward Keenan Welzel (Brunswick, Maine), who received a pass from Onyejose. 

The Blue Jays had two shots on goal, one in each half. Freshman midfielder Mikey Torres (Hartford, Conn.) dribbled the ball from just inside the midfield line down the left side after a clear on the other end, but ran out of steam by the time he crossed the box, the shot just not enough on it to break past the goalie. Freshman defender Joseph Colaccino (Southington, Conn) got a shot off in the 58th minute, but to no avail. It was virtually all Monks in Maine, who remain undefeated and first in the GNAC standings as the season wages on.

Up Next
The USJ men's soccer team wraps up back-to-back road games with a visit to another unbeaten GNAC opponent in Johnson & Wales University, on Wednesday, October 16 at 4:00 p.m.

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