STANDISH, Maine – Junior Nick Marion (Windham, Maine) tallied two goals and an assist as Saint Joseph's College (6-2-5, 5-0-4 GNAC) held off Norwich University (7-4-2, 4-3-1 GNAC), 3-2, in a rainy and cold Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's soccer contest at the SJC Athletics Complex on Tuesday evening.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The contest proved to be a tale of two halves, as Saint Joseph's controlled the opening frame before holding off a furious Norwich offensive effort after intermission.
Marion put the Monks ahead at 24:19 off an assist from sophomore Mattheus Silva (Acton, Mass.) and doubled the lead at 41:04 on a perfect lead pass from graduate student Brady Cormier (Waterboro, Maine). Saint Joseph's outshot Norwich 11-3 in the first half and carried a 2-0 advantage into the break.
The Cadets responded quickly in the second half, cutting the deficit in half on an unassisted Cristian Habiniak goal at 47:08. Norwich goalkeeper Victor Kalorin then denied a penalty kick by freshman Damir Brkic (South Portland, Maine) at 56:56, keeping the visitors within a goal and adding fuel to their comeback effort.
The Monks restored their two-goal cushion at 59:45 when junior Godin Ndayishimiye (Bujumbura, Burundi) scored off an assist from Marion. Norwich answered just 21 seconds later, however, as Daniel Hennessey finished a feed from Ben Rubinstein following a scramble in the box to make it a 3-2 game.
The Cadets continued to press for the equalizer, generating 11 shots and eight corner kicks in the second half. Senior goalkeeper Alex Bachmann (Scarborough, Maine) made four saves after intermission, including stops at 70:30 and 78:52, as the Monks protected their lead through the final whistle.
NOTEWORTHY:
Marion has now scored two goals in three-consecutive games, the first time an SJC player has accomplished this feat since Brett Mattos '19 did so during the 2017 season.
TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held the advantage in shots (25-14) and shots on goal (10-8), while Norwich led in corner kicks (10-6) in the conference contest.
THE KEEPERS:
Bachmann recorded six saves over 90 minutes to earn the victory, while Kalorin made seven stops, including the second-half penalty-kick save.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 14-8-5 all-time against Norwich. The Monks snapped a four-game losing streak in the series and defeated the Cadets for the first time since September 10, 2022.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's travels to Regis College for a GNAC contest on Saturday, October 17, at 1:00 PM in Weston, Mass.
