NEW LONDON, N.H. – Saints sophomore
Cam Naples scored an 88
th minute winner for Emmanuel on Saturday afternoon in a 3-2 victory over the Colby-Sawyer Chargers in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play at Kelsey Field.
The late game-winning goal lifts the Saints to 10-4-2 (9-2-2 GNAC) this season and clinches at least one home game in the upcoming GNAC Playoffs. In the Saints 23-year history, the program has never hosted a conference postseason matchup. The Chargers fall to 6-9-1 (4-8-1 GNAC) and are in a battle for the final playoff position going into their final match.
Tied 2-2 in the 88
th minute, the Saints drew a corner kick that led to the game-winning tally. Off the corner, Chargers junior goalie
Yegor Bartolon punched away the cross, but only as far as Naples, who collected the ball 12 yards from goal.
With a dozen players between him and the net, Naples chose the high road, lifting a chip shot, right-footed, over the crowded area, and finding the right side netting, giving the Saints the 3-2 advantage.
Emmanuel had to fight back from down a goal twice in the match, as they trailed 2-1 before junior
Pierre-Paul Labossiere tied things at 2-2 in the 78
th minute. A loose ball bouncing in the Chargers penalty area sat perfectly for a right-footed half-volley by Labossiere, as he pierced the back of the bottom left corner of the net, to tie the match.
The Saints trailed 1-0 until the 57
th minute with junior
Ryan Ragosta scoring on a diving header that squared the match at 1-1. Colby-Sawyer opened the scoring with a 28
th minute goal and had a 2-1 lead in the 71
st minute with both goals coming by sophomore
Kaden Lewis.
Saints sophomore goalie
Aristidis Stefanis made one stop on the day and wins his fifth straight decision to improve to 6-1-0 this season. Bartolon made eight saves for the Chargers but drops to 4-8-1 with the loss.
Emmanuel has won six-in-a-row, setting a new program record for longest winning streak in team history, beating out a five-game winning streak by the 2011 squad. The team is also unbeaten in their last nine, going 7-0-2 over that span. The only other unbeaten string of this length came in 2022 when the Saints went 5-0-5 over a 10-match stretch.
The Saints finish out their regular season with a trip to Rivier on Tuesday, Oct. 29, for a 7:00 p.m. match. The Chargers head to Norwich on Oct. 29 for a 7:00 p.m. match with the Cadets. Colby-Sawyer sits one point out of a playoff spot with Tuesday wrapping up the GNAC regular season.
