Oct. 30, 2011

Box Score

BOSTON, Mass. - The Emmanuel College Men's Soccer Team earned the program's first-ever Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament win on Sunday afternoon, when the sixth-seeded Saints upset third-seeded Emerson College, 3-2. The GNAC quarterfinal game was played on Emerson's snow-cleared pitch at Rotch Field. The Saints (11-5-4) will now advance to take on the second-seeded Monks of Saint Joseph's College (Maine) on Wednesday afternoon in Standish, Me in the GNAC semifinals.

The game featured a high-scoring first half, which saw each team net two goals to enter halftime knotted at 2-all. The host Lions struck first, when Jacob Lawrence scored on a breakaway with the assist coming from Ken Nikravesh at 5:21. Emmanuel quickly fought back to tie the game with a goal just six minutes later.

Junior Jeremy Scanlon (Belmont, Mass.) scored his first of two goals on the day. Scanlon received a cross from Danny Richman (Medfield, Mass.) and drilled it into the back of the net at 11:08. The Scanlon, Richman combination proved effective again just four minutes later, when Scanlon got his head on a direct kick by Richman, giving the Saints a 2-1 edge just 15:11 into the contest.

The visitors held the advantage for much of the half, but a questionable call in the box gave Emerson a late first-half opportunity. After an intentional pass back to the keeper by the Saints' defense, Emmanuel's rookie goalie Garrett Charette (West Springfield, Mass.) was called for illegal use of the hands after picking up the pass. The result of the foul gave the Lions an indirect free kick from the right side ten yards out. The Lions' indirect kick by Lawrence was then sent directly into the Saints' goal, touching just Charette on the deflection, who appeared to be inside the goal at the time of the touch. The goal stood and the two teams took a 2-2 tie into the break at halftime.

The second half was a chippy one, as both teams played physically and the Lions picked up 19 second-half fouls. After 36 minutes of scoreless second half soccer, the Saints stuck the game-winner. Sophomore forward Kevin Esposito (Gales Ferry, Conn.) ripped a one touch point blank bullet off an Emerson deflection and the ball found the back of the net in the top right corner. The game-winner, which came at 81:00, was Esposito's second goal of the 2011 season.

The Saints out-shot the Lions, 16-10, on the day, with a 7-4 shots-on-goal advantage. Both Richman and senior captain Mathew Koenemann (Montpelier, Vt.) played great for the Saints, possessing the ball well and dominating the midfield all afternoon.

Charette played the full 90 minutes in goal for the Saints, earning the tournament win and making 2 saves in the effort. Emerson goalkeeper Noah Price made 4 stops for the Lions.

Emerson's season comes to a close with the Lions finishing at 9-9 overall. This was the Emerson program's highest GNAC tournament seed and their first-ever tournament game hosted at Rotch Field.

For the first time in program history, the Emmanuel Saints will now advance to the GNAC semifinals. The Saints will travel to Standish, Maine on Wednesday, November 2nd, to take on the Monks of Saint Joseph's College. The winner of this game will play for the GNAC Championship on Saturday afternoon. The winner of the GNAC Championship receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.