PAXTON, Mass. – Saint Joseph's College (3-1-1, 1-0-0 GNAC) started Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play with a 3-1 triumph over Anna Maria College (3-2-0, 0-1-0 GNAC) on Saturday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Monks grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute when junior Kayla Gooch (Dracut, Mass.) scored off a Madison Michaud (Presque Isle, Maine) feed and doubled the advantage at the 56:10 mark when junior Madeline Wood (Madison, Maine) connected on a McKenzie Murphy (West Baldwin, Maine) dish.

The Monks' third tally was highly unusual, to say the least, as sophomore goalkeeper Adia Grogan (Kennebunk, Maine) unleashed a free kick from the 45-yard line to score top shelf in the 73rd minute. Grogan's goal is believed to be the first non-PK tally scored by a goalkeeper in program history.

The AMCATS managed to get on the board in the 87th minute, when DeAnna Baker (Lansdale, Pa.) delivered a free kick that worked its way through Grogan's hands and into the net.

TEAM STATS:

Saint Joseph's held sizeable advantages in shots (32-10) and shots on goal (17-8) and notched a 4-3 edge in corner kicks in the conference opener.

THE KEEPERS:

Grogan finished the game with seven saves and the AMCATS employed two goalies in the loss, as sophomore Rachel Matloff (Grafton, Mass.) turned away seven of the ten attempts she faced over nearly 73 minutes and freshman Alice Yokabaskas (Farmingdale, Maine) posted five stops in just over 17 minutes of relief.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

The Monks are now 9-0-0 all-time versus the AMCATS, who this evening netted their first goal in the history of the series. Prior to tonight St. Joe's had outscored AMC by a collective 51-0 score in eight games dating back to the 2011 campaign.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's is back in action tomorrow with a non-conference game at UMaine-Farmington. The contest – which was originally to be played on September 4th but was rained out – will begin at 4:00 PM.

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