Box Score BOSTON – Emmanuel Men's Soccer (5-8-1 GNAC) took down GNAC foe Rivier (2-8-4 GNAC) by a score of 1-0 on Tuesday night at Roberto Clemente Field. With the win, the Saints earned a spot in Thursday night's GNAC Men's Soccer Tournament Play-In Round against Regis.
In the 19th minute, junior defender Nick DiPace (Watertown, Mass.) intercepted an aerial pass, controlling the ball and finding Guilherme Silva (Malden, Mass.). Silva turned and slid the ball between Raiders defensemen towards Richie Hickson (Woodstock, Conn.) who carefully placed a right-footed shot past goalkeeper Sean Seeley (Queensbury, N.Y.) to put the Saints ahead. It was Hickson's first career goal.
The lone goal was all it took to earn a spot in Thursday's play-in match. The Saints controlled the game for the majority of the remaining 70 minutes. A strong central defensive pairing of DiPace and Noah Alves (Nassau, Bahamas) helped hold Rivier to just five shots all game. Maddox Pierce (Meriden, Conn.) collected a save on Rivier's single shot on goal.
Emmanuel nearly doubled the lead in the 63rd minute off a header from Alves. Seeley leapt and was able to get just enough of his hand on the ball to push it off the crossbar and out of play. The Raiders goalkeeper finished the match with three saves.
The No. 9 seeded Saints will now prepare for the GNAC Tournament Play-In Game on Thursday (10/26) at 5 P.M. when they will travel to face No. 8 seeded Regis College (6-8 GNAC). In the two sides only other meeting this season on 9/23, the Saints were victorious by a score of 2-0 thanks to goals from DiPace and Zachary Barown (Colebrook, Conn) inside the first 15 minutes.
