Nov. 4, 2009

Box Score

BOSTON, Mass. - The second-seeded Emmanuel College Saints knocked off the sixth-seeded Saint Joseph College Blue Jays, 1-0, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament semifinal action played at Clemente Field on Wednesday night. An early first half goal by Emmanuel forward Amber Di Nucci (Assonet, Mass.) held up to be the game-winner, as the Saints held the Blue Jays scoreless throughout. Emmanuel is now 14-5-1 on the season and will advance to play for the GNAC Championship on Saturday afternoon.

The two teams kept the ball in the middle of the field for much of the opening period. Each team took just three shots in the first forty-five minutes. The Saints connected on their one and only first half shot-on-goal. Sophomore midfielder Logan Carr (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) booted a long ball down the center of the field and freshman forward Elizabeth Blasser (Pembroke, Mass.) one-touched it to Di Nucci on a breakaway. Di Nucci dodged two Blue Jay defenders, before blasting her shot past Saint Joseph College's senior keeper Cait Witham (Prospect, Conn.). The Saints' goal came at 26:08 and was the only score of the night.

The Blue Jays managed three more shots in the second half, including two in the final two minutes of play. Emmanuel's rookie keeper Jessica D'Ottavio (Pawling, N.Y.) stopped all four of the Blue Jays' shots on goal and picked up the shut-out win for the Saints. Whitham made 9 saves on the night for SJC, with all of them coming in the second half, as Emmanuel out-shot Saint Joseph, 9-2 SOG, in the second stanza.

The win for the Saints' marked their fourteenth victory of the season, as well as Emmanuel's seventh shut-out of the year. The Saints, who are currently on a seven-game win streak, have shut out their opponents in five of the last seven contests. The loss concluded the season for Saint Joseph. The Blue Jays wrapped up their season at 11-6-3 overall and held a 7-3-2 GNAC ledger.

In other semifinal action, the fifth-seeded Sharks of Simmons College upset the top-seeded Monks of Saint Joseph's College, 1-0, in Standish, Me. Simmons' upset victory automatically transferred hosting rights for the GNAC Championship game over to the Saints, as Emmanuel quickly became the tournament's highest remaining seed.

No. 2 Emmanuel will now host No. 5 Simmons (11-5-3) on Saturday afternoon at Clemente Field. The championship game is slated to begin at 12:30pm. The Sharks' tournament run has included two-straight upset victories, as they topped 4th-seeded Emerson College in the GNAC quarterfinals on Sunday. Earlier in the season, the Saints shut-out Simmons, 4-0, on the Sharks' home field.

Saturday's game will mark the Saints' third-straight appearance in the GNAC finals. Emmanuel's last GNAC Championship came in 2007 with a victory of Emerson College. The winner of the 2009 GNAC Championship will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.