STANDISH, Maine – The Saint Joseph's College men's soccer team posted an 8-8-3 overall record with a 7-5-2 mark in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play under the watch of seventh-year Head Coach Will Pike '12 last fall.
REGULAR SEASON:
The Monks' 2024 season was marked by constant adjustments. Only four players - Liam Foley (Middleton, Mass.), Gus Ford (Falmouth, Maine), Nate Sottak (Belmont, N.H.), and Kyle Clairmont (Williston, Vt.) - appeared in all 19 games, and the team never used the same starting 11 twice. Projected starters Will Wood (Franklin, N.H.), Rion Dos Santos (São Paulo, Brazil), Cole Bishop (Gorham, Maine), Dante Roselli (Burlington, Ont.), and Brady Cormier (Waterboro, Maine) missed a combined 54 games, forcing Coach Pike and his staff to shift lineups and play athletes out of position.
Even with the setbacks, Saint Joseph's stayed competitive throughout the schedule. The Monks fell short of a top three GNAC Tournament seed for the first time since 2014 but remained a tough opponent in every matchup and notched nine shutouts during the season.
The 2024 campaign opened with a challenging stretch, as the Monks went winless through their first four contests, including losses to Wheaton, Bates, and Emmanuel. The breakthrough came on September 14th with a 4-0 conference road win at Dean College, followed two days later by another 4-0 shutout, this time over Lasell, to get Saint Joseph's into the win column. Senior Rion Dos Santos registered a goal and an assist in both victories.
The momentum was short-lived, as the Monks fell to Saint Joseph (CT) before bouncing back with a 2-0 victory over Rivier. A tough two-game skid against Colby-Sawyer and Norwich was snapped with a 2-0 home win over Mitchell on October 5th. The squad then earned a scoreless draw at New England College before knocking off Elms, 3-1, in a key GNAC matchup.
After a setback against Bowdoin, Saint Joseph's responded with a dominant three-game win streak, blanking Albertus Magnus, Regis, and Anna Maria, with all three victories coming by multiple goals. The regular season closed with a narrow 2-1 loss at Johnson & Wales.
POSTSEASON:
The 7-5-2 GNAC record secured Saint Joseph's the #5 seed in the conference tournament, setting up a quarterfinal trip to #4 Emmanuel College on November 2nd. Dante Roselli put the Monks on the board in the 36th minute with his first collegiate goal, but the Saints answered just over two minutes later to even the score. The deadlock held through the remainder of regulation and two overtime periods, sending the match to a penalty shootout. Emmanuel converted four of five attempts, while the Monks went 2-for-4 from the spot, bringing the season to a gut-wrenching close.
NOTEWORTHY INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES
- Despite missing nine of the Monks' 19 contests, Rion Dos Santos paced the team with six goals and five assists for a 17-point total, earning First Team All-GNAC honors for the third time in his career.
- Gus Ford capped his collegiate career with six goals and 13 total points, collecting All-Conference recognition for the third time and Second Team honors for the second straight year.
- A steady presence on the backline and a scoring threat on set pieces, sophomore Diego Robinson (Hinesburg, Vt.) claimed 2024 Third Team All-GNAC accolades after securing Second Team honors as a freshman in 2023.
- Liam Foley, a 2024 Third Team All-GNAC selection, delivered another standout season in goal, posting a 1.21 goals-against average, a .781 save percentage, and seven shutouts while playing all but 20 minutes of the season. The 2023 GNAC Goalkeeper of the Year finished with 82 saves and just 23 goals allowed over 1,706:44 minutes of action.
