Men's Soccer Powers Past Elms, 7-2, on the Road Wednesday Night

CHICOPEE, Mass. - The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's soccer team dominated on the road against Elms College, defeating the Blazers 7-2 Wednesday night during Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play at Timothy J. Leary Field in Chicopee, Mass. With the result, the Blue Jays move to 11-1-2 overall and 9-1-2 in the GNAC, while the Blazers move to 2-10-3 overall and 2-8-2 in the conference.

KEY MOMENTS 

• USJ and Elms would both generate scoring chances in the opening minutes, but the Blue Jays would be denied by the Elms goalkeeper, while senior goalkeeper Jose Miguel Garcia Martin (Madrid, Spain) would come up with a routine save down to his right, keeping the game scoreless inside the opening 10 minutes.
• The Blue Jays would strike first in the opening half, as senior forward Dane Stephens (Linstead, Jamaica) picked out a perfect through ball to sophomore forward Emmanuel Ofori (East Hartford, Conn.), who chipped his shot over the outrushing goalkeeper, establishing a 1-0 USJ lead at the 10:05 mark.
• USJ quickly doubled the advantage less than a minute later, as sophomore defender Nicholas Simpson (Mansfield, Conn.) played an over-the-top ball into the path of freshman midfielder Matthew Dima (Oxford, Conn.) who cut the ball across the front of the goal, past the dummy of Ofori onto the feet of Stephens, who ripped his shot into the goal, establishing a 2-0 USJ lead.
• The Blazers would pull one back at the 21:09 mark, as an unfortunate own-goal enable to the hosts to cut the gap to 2-1.
• Dima nearly reestablished a two-goal lead at the 35:55 mark, finding himself one-on-one with the Elms goalkeeper, but Collin Lidke would make a reaction kick-save to deny Dima and keep the score at 2-1.
• USJ continued to pile on the pressure, finding the third goal as graduate student defender Elijah Rowland (Hartford, Conn.) played a cross into Ofori, who turned and fired his shot in the left corner, increasing the lead to 3-1 at the 39:43 mark.
• Elms though quickly responded, as Musa Jiana rifled a strike into the upper left corner at the 42:46 mark, cutting the Blue Jays lead to 3-2 before the game reached the halftime break.
• The Blue Jays wasted little time finding the back of the net in the second half as Ofori laid off a pass to Stephens, who slotted the ball past Lidke at the 46:11 mark, increasing the gap to 4-2.
• USJ continued to fire in the goals, as senior midfielder Juan Torres (Hartford, Conn.) picked up a loose ball in the Elms defensive half, finding Dima on the edge of the box, who launched a strike into the left corner, increasing the gap to 5-2 with 54:23 on the clock.
• USJ increase the lead to 6-2 at the 68:18 mark, as senior midfielder Henry McGarrah V (Hartford, Conn.) played a sweet one-two with Dima before firing his shot into the net.
• McGarrah V would soon net his second of the game, receiving a pass from graduate student midfielder Michael Torres (Hartford, Conn.) before firing a shot into the net, establishing a 7-2 Blue Jays lead with 15 minutes left to play.
• The deficit would prove too much for Elms as the Blue Jays took home the 7-2 victory.

NOTES 

• Both Ofori and Stephens netted their team-leading tenth goals of the year.
• Michael Torres dished out his team leading tenth assist of the season.
• McGarrah V and Dima increased their goal tallies to six in 2023.
• Garcia Martin recorded four saves to pick up the win, moving to 4-0-1 on the season.
• The Blue Jays held a significant 22-10 advantage in shots, including a 16-6 mark in shots on goal.
• With the result USJ remains unbeaten against Elms, moving its all-time series lead to 3-0-0.

UP NEXT

The Blue Jays return home for their final regular season home contest of the 2023 season, hosting Saint Joseph's College of Maine on Saturday, October 21. Kickoff against the Monks on the USJ Soccer Field in West Hartford is set for 1:00 p.m.

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