Box Score POULTNEY, Vt. – Junior Johnny Thomas (Boston, Mass.) scored a hat trick while sophomore Austin Bell (Gorham, Maine) scored a pair and added two assists as Saint Joseph's College (2-1-1) cruised past Green Mountain College (0-3-0), 11-0, in a non-conference men's soccer contest on Thursday afternoon.
Saint Joseph's (2-1-1) got on the board early in the first half as freshman Jesse Ramirez (Dumont, N.J.) found the back of the net after a nice set up from classmate Brett Mattos (Mahopac, N.Y.) just 37 seconds into the game.
Bell notched his first of two in the ninth minute of play when Eagles' keeper Samuel Nichols made a nice save on a penalty kick but could not corral the rebound. Bell made no mistake the second time tapping home the carom.
Thomas put home his first of the game in the 14th minute as he converted a pass from teammate Jeremy Caruso (Pembroke, N.H.). Saint Joseph's scored four more times in the span of nine minutes to take a commanding 7-0 lead into the break.
Freshman Erik O'Toole (Oslo, Norway) finished a nice passing play set up by classmate Kartikeya Swarup (Delhi, India) at the 27:06 mark and then Swarup himself swooped in from the wing and beat the Eagles keeper for his own mark just over a minute later. First-year Joe Fusaro (Hawthorne, N.J.) scored a pair before half to end the scoring in the opening stanza.
Bell and Thomas finished their scoring just over ten minutes into the second half while Swarup scored his second of the game in the 71st minute to close out the scoring on a drizzly afternoon.
Green Mountain was outshot 20-6 in the game with Nazar Zhukovskyy accounting for three of those shots for GMC.
Two Monks' players combined for the shutout in net with freshman Blake Mullen (Manchester, Conn.) picking up the win with the start in the first 45 minutes. First-year Zack Moody (Steep Falls, Maine) replaced him in the final 45 minutes to finish out the clean sheet.
Nichols made three saves in net for the Eagles in the loss.
The Eagles will host regional opponent Middlebury College Tuesday, September 15th at home at 4:45 p.m. in its next contest, while Saint Joseph's will open up its conference schedule at Emmanuel (Mass.) this Saturday at 1 p.m.
BEYOND THE BOX
- The Monks shattered the program single-game records for goals, assists (8) and total points (30) in today's lopsided victory
- The team's previous single-game records for goals (7), assists (6) and points (20) occurred in a win over Rivier University on October 25th, 2008
- The hat-trick effort by Thomas is just the fourth in program history and first since current Assistant Coach Kyle Shangraw netted a trio against Emmanuel on October 12th, 2013
- Thomas, Fusaro, Swarup and O'Toole netted their first collegiate goals in today's win
- O'Toole, Moody, Andrew Pereira (Lowell, Mass.), Robbie Small (Bowdoinham, Maine) and James Stevens (Marshfield, Mass.) all made their debuts for Saint Joseph's this afternoon
- Mullen made his first NCAA start and picked up the first win of his career without facing a shot in the first half
UP NEXT
- Saint Joseph's is 6-2-1 all-time versus Emmanuel – a team the Monks defeated by a 2-0 score in the side's regular-season finale in Standish last fall
- Emmanuel has played two games this season, losing to Curry College, 1-0, on September 3rd and topping Lesley University, 3-1, on September 7th
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
