Men's Soccer Blanks Dean, 3-0, Tuesday Afternoon

FRANKLIN, Mass. - Freshman goalie Will Slayton (Manchester, Conn.) tallied eight saves to guide the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's soccer team to a 3-0 shutout victory at Dean College (Dean) during Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play Tuesday afternoon at the Longely Athletic Complex in Franklin, Mass. The Blue Jays had three different goal scorers on the afternoon as the victory increased the Blue Jays' winning streak to six games and its unbeaten run to seven games. With the result, the Blue Jays moved to 6-3-1 on the year and 5-0-1 in GNAC play, while the Bulldogs moved to 2-6-0 overall and 1-4-0 in the conference.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• The Blue Jays nearly opened the scoring inside the opening minute, as freshman midfielder Mario Milardo (Middletown, Conn.) saw his shot from 25 yards out rifle off the post and out, keeping the game scoreless.
• USJ continued to pile on the pressure as freshman forward Damir Cirikovic (Southington, Conn.) crossed a low ball into the feet of graduate forward Henry McGarrah V (Hartford, Conn.) who backheeled the ball past the Dean goalkeeper, establishing a 1-0 Blue Jays lead at the 11:05 mark.
• The Blue Jays pushed for a second goal for the remainder of the half, but Dean junior goaltender Jake Godwin (Norwalk, Conn.) would deny any USJ attacking chance, preserving the 1-0 score as the game reached halftime.
• USJ continued to pepper the net early in the second half and were rewarded at the 48:53 mark. McGarrah V drove a low cross into the 18-yard box, that was flicked on by freshman forward Griffin Neal (Waterford, Conn.) into the path of a wide-open freshman midfielder Justin Cardinale (Wolcott, Conn.), who tapped the ball into the net, extending the USJ lead to 2-0.
• The Blue Jays nearly made it 3-0, earning a penalty kick, but junior defender Nicholas Simpson (Mansfield, Conn.) saw his shot that was heading to the bottom right corner be saved by Godwin.
• Dean would start to generate scoring opportunities after the missed penalty, but no effort troubled Slayton who kept the Bulldogs off the board.
• USJ would be the next team to score, as freshman midfielder Landon Coelho (Naugatuck, Conn.) whipped in a perfect corner kick, that found Simpson at the back post, who took a touch and fired his shot off the half volley into the net, increasing the lead to 3-0 with 15 minutes left to play.
• The Blue Jays defense stood strong for the remainder of the game, securing a 3-0 victory for USJ.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• McGarrah scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season, and recorded his second assist.
• Cardinale scored his first career goal.
• Neal dished out his first career assist.
• Coelho tallied his team-leading fourth assist of the year.
• Slayton picked up the win (4-1-1) recording a season-high eight saves to pick up his second shutout of the season.

UP NEXT

The Blue Jays return to West Hartford for a GNAC matchup against Colby-Sawyer on Saturday, October 5. Opening kickoff against the Chargers on the USJ Soccer Field is set for 2:30 p.m.

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