CHICOPEE, Mass. – Saint Joseph's College (7-8-1, 7-4-1 GNAC) battled back from an early deficit to earn a 1-1 draw with Elms College (6-11-2, 2-8-2) in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's soccer action at Leary Field on Wednesday afternoon.

PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:

Saint Joseph's entered Wednesday's match already locked into the No. 4 seed in the GNAC Tournament but had to wait until the conclusion of the night's action to learn its quarterfinal opponent. With the standings finalized, the Monks will host No. 5 seed Dean College in a first-round matchup on Saturday at 2:30 PM.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Blazers struck first in the 19th minute when Jacobo Molina Ferrer found the back of the net off a combination from Pajorn Drysdale and Zachary Delaney, giving the hosts a 1-0 advantage. Despite controlling much of the run of play in the first half, Saint Joseph's was unable to break through before the break. The Monks turned up the pressure after intermission and finally broke through in the 51st minute, when sophomore forward Nick Marion (Windham, Maine) delivered the equalizer to make it 1-1.

Saint Joseph's dominated the second half with 14 shots and nearly secured the lead in the 69th minute when junior Divin Mpinga (Kinshasa, DRC) clanged a shot off the crossbar.

TEAM STATS:

Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (24-9), shots on goal (9-3), and corner kicks (11-3) in the stalemate.

THE KEEPERS:

SJC senior starter Logan Davis (Naples, Maine) stopped a pair of shots while Elms netminder Jack Bousquet registered eight saves on the evening.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the result, Saint Joseph's is now 4-1-1 in the history of the series with Elms College.