STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (8-2-1, 4-1-0 GNAC) cruised past Rivier University (2-6-2, 0-4-1 GNAC), 3-0, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's soccer contest at the SJC Athletics Complex on Saturday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Monks hit pay dirt just 2:25 into the game when sophomore Emma Auclair (Kittery, Maine) broke free for a breakaway near the top of the box placed a shot past Rivier senior keeper Kasey Smith (Hopkinton, N.H.). Junior McKenzie Murphy (West Baldwin, Maine) set up the opening strike with a well-placed through ball.

In the 26th minute freshman Madison Michaud (Presque Isle, Maine) doubled the hosts' advantage with another breakaway bid. Fed by a through ball off the foot of junior Madeline Wood (Madison, Maine), Michaud juked the Rivier netminder and tapped a shot to the right corner of the net for her fourth goal of the year.

The 2-0 cushion remained until the 48th minute, when sophomore Ashley Emery (Madison, Maine) let fly a beautiful kick to the top left corner while sprinting through the right side of the box. For Emery, the unassisted tally was her team-leading fifth goal of the season.

TEAM STATS:

Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (22-9), shots on goal (11-5), and corner kicks (3-1) in the victory.

THE KEEPERS:

SJC sophomore starter Adia Grogan (Kennebunk, Maine) improved to 7-2-1 on the season after making four saves in 74:39 minutes of shutout play. Senior Cori Balam (Lyndeborough, N.H.) completed the Monks' fourth clean sheet of the season after turning away one shot in the closing 15:21 minutes.

Smith made eight saves in the losing effort for Rivier.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the victory Saint Joseph's improves to 11-2-0 all-time versus Rivier University and has now defeated the Raiders in eight-consecutive meetings dating back to the 2011 campaign.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's will host GNAC-rival Norwich University on Wednesday at 6:30 PM.

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