PHOTO COURTESY OF MISSIE FORBES

STANDISH, Maine – Top-seeded Saint Joseph's College (13-4-1, 11-1-0 GNAC) blanked #8 Anna Maria College (3-11-2, 3-7-2 GNAC), 4-0, in the first round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Soccer Tournament on Saturday evening.

PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:

With the triumph, Saint Joseph's advances to the GNAC semifinal round for the sixth-consecutive season and will host #4 University of Saint Joseph in the second-round matchup on Wednesday, start time TBD.

For Anna Maria, the loss signals the end of the 2022 season.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Monks had numerous opportunities to take an early lead but did not hit pay dirt until Gus Ford (Falmouth, Maine) and Jackson Fotter (Gorham, Maine) both scored in a matter of 123 seconds to claim a 2-0 advantage with 12:28 left in the first half.

Grad student Austin Ward (Exeter, N.H.) knocked in his team-leading 16th goal of the season off a Jacob Rockwood (Hopkinton, N.H.) feed in the 50th minute and Ford capped the scoring with his seventh tally of the year off an Icaro Vieira (Westborough, Mass.) pass at the 75:13 mark.

TEAM STATS:

Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (28-7), shots on goal (13-3), and corner kicks (12-1) in the victory.

THE KEEPERS:

SJC senior starter Mike Sheridan (Folsom, Pa.) made one save in 83:41 minutes while sophomore Liam Foley (Middleton, Mass.) posted a pair of stops in 6:19 of relief duty. Anna Maria grad student Valter Santiago (Norwood, Mass.) turned away eight shots in the loss.

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