FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
In quarterfinal action of the 2014 GNAC Men's Soccer Tournament, top seed Johnson & Wales University handled eighth-seeded Saint Joseph's College of Maine, 2-0, on Friday night before the three remaining games kicked off on Saturday.
Fifth-seeded Mount Ida College went on the road to upset fourth-seeded Albertus Magnus, 2-1, and third-seeded Lasell College took down sixth-seeded Emmanuel College, 5-3. In the final quarterfinal match, second-seeded Norwich University handled seventh-seeded Suffolk University by a 6-2 final.
The four winners will look forward to Tuesday's semifinals, as Mount Ida will travel to Johnson & Wales and Norwich will host Lasell at 7:00 p.m.
#1 JOHNSON & WALES 2, #8 SAINT JOSEPH'S (ME) 0 - BOX
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – After a scoreless first half in which the Wildcats outshot the Monks 13-1, junior Marcos Mendez (Brewster, Wash.) used a pass from sophomore Kyle Mike (Monroe, N.J.) to deflect the ball into the back of the net and give the hosts the lead in the 62nd minute. Senior Kyle Metz (St. James, N.Y.) gave the Wildcats an insurance goal late in the contest as he connected on a shot to the lower left corner of the net that gave JWU the 2-0 lead with just under two minutes remaining. The Wildcats held a 25-3 advantage in shots for the match en route to the 2-0 victory.
Senior Ryan Dzierzawski (Oakland, Mich.) recorded two saves to earn his ninth shutout of the season for the Wildcats while Scott Benner made nine saves in the setback for the visiting Monks.
With the win Johnson & Wales is now 13-5-1 while St. Joseph's of Maine wraps up the 2014 campaign with a 5-16 record.
#5 MOUNT IDA 2, #4 ALBERTUS MAGNUS 1 - BOX
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Albertus struck first asAlexis Garcia (West Haven, Conn.) sent a cross in the air into the box which met the head of senior Richard Mitchell (Naugatuck, Conn.), who scored his first goal of the season.
The Mustangs answered less than 30 seconds later as Nick Rivas-Vasquez (Hamden, Conn., pictured) finished on a pass by teammate Jeremy Sayers (Portsmouth, N.H.). Rivas-Vasquez scored the eventual game-winning goal in the 28th minute, as he drilled a shot from just outside of the 18-yard box, beating Albertus keeper Griffin Volta (Orange, Conn.), who made two saves in the contest, while Mount Ida's Mat Pils tallied two as well.
Albertus, which outshot the Mustangs 11-8, is now 7-4-2 all-time against Mount Ida, while today's loss marked the first against the Mustangs since 2009.
#3 LASELL 5, #6 EMMANUEL 3 - BOX
NEWTON, Mass. - With its victory Saturday, Lasell improved to 9-8-1 overall with the win while Emmanuel slipped to 5-10-2 with the loss. Five different players scored for Lasell, led by Nick Rudovic (Yonkers, N.Y.) with a goal and an assist, Jonathon Hislop (Arlington, Mass.), Manny Alves (Pawtucket, R.I.), Nick Liquori (Westfield, Mass.) and Servi Barrientos (Providence, R.I.). Jonathon Sutton (Orange, Conn.) added two assists for the Lasers and Miguel Colmenares (Caracas, Venezuela) made three saves in net to collect the win.
Cameron Messier (Belchertown, Mass.) and James Carroll (Guilford, Conn.) each tallied a goal and an assist for Emmanuel, and Jordan Mauer (Florence, Mass.) scored as well for the Saints. Garrett Charette (West Springfield, Mass.) stopped three shots in goal while taking the loss for Emmanuel.
#2 NORWICH 6, #7 SUFFOLK 2 - BOX
NORTHFIELD, Vt. - Norwich sophomore Jacob Zimmerman (Litchfield, N.H.) registered a hat trick to lead the Cadets to victory Saturday afternoon while DJ Spears (San Antonio, Texas) and Alec Brigante (Colchester, Vt.) also chipped in with a pair of goals each in the victory.
Suffolk got on the board early into the game in the eighth minute of the first half as Juan Lazcano Bello scored the first goal of the contest to put the Rams up 1-0 with hopes of shocking the Cadets. But the effect did not fade Norwich as Spears scored the equalizer in the 24th minute on a pass from Zimmerman. 11 minutes later, Zimmerman would net his first goal of the contest as he connected on a lob from Brigante and drilled the ball into the back of the net to give the Cadets' its first lead of the game.
The barrage of goals begun to pile on in the second half as Brigante would net his first goal of the contest on a header off a corner kick from Moab Schiers (South Weber, Utah) in the 55th minute. Brigante scored his second goal 13 minutes later before Zimmerman netted his second goal in the 72nd minute to extend Norwich's 5-1 lead.
Information Provided by JWU, Norwich, Albertus Magnus & Lasell Athletics Communications.
Quarterfinals – Fri-Sat, Oct. 31-Nov. 1
Match 1: #1 Johnson & Wales 2, #8 Saint Joseph's (ME) 0 | BOX
Match 2: #5 Mount Ida 2, #4 Albertus Magnus 1 | BOX
Match 3: #3 Lasell 5, #6 Emmanuel 3 | BOX
Match 4: #2 Norwich 6, #7 Suffolk 2 | BOX
Semifinals – Tuesday, November 4
Match 5: #5 Mount Ida at #1 Johnson & Wales
Match 6: #3 Lasell at #2 Norwich
Championship – Saturday, November 8
Match 5 winner vs. Match 6 winner