PHOTO COURTESY OF LAUREL CLACE '25

STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (2-1-0, 1-0-0 GNAC) netted a pair of second-half goals to dispose of Norwich University (1-1-1, 0-1-0 GNAC), 2-1, in a battle of Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's soccer heavyweights at the SJC Athletics Complex on Saturday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Cadets got on the board first with a goal from senior forward Joey Thongsythavong (Salem, Mass.) just 4:45 into the contest. Applying pressure just outside the box, Thongsythavong managed to get a foot on an outlet pass from SJC senior goalkeeper Mike Sheridan (Folsom, Pa.) and tapped the ball into a wide-open net for the early lead.

The 1-0 edge remained until the 48th minute when sophomore midfielder Rion Dos Santos (São Paulo, Brazil) found space about 30 yards out and drilled a shot to the top right corner, knotting the game at 1-1.

Some very competitive soccer ensued as the conference rivals battled for over 25 minutes before grad Kyle Cocciardi (Manchester, N.H.) scored what proved to be the game-winning goal at the 73:36 mark. In the aftermath of a set-piece into the box, Cocciardi took a quick header pass from sophomore Gus Ford (Falmouth, Maine) and belted a sidewinder just inside the left post.

The Cadets put on the full press in the closing minutes and had a pair of corner kick attempts late, but both fell without consequence.

TEAM STATS:

Norwich held the lead in shots (8-4), shots on goal (4-3), and corner kicks (9-1) in the losing effort.

THE KEEPERS:

Sheridan turned away three shots in the victory while Norwich senior Robert Wagenseller (Poway, Calif.) made one save on the afternoon.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 13-4-5 in the history of the series with Norwich University and extends their undefeated streak versus the Cadets to 11 games. Norwich has not defeated St. Joe's since October 10th, 2014 (3-1) in Northfield. This stretch includes GNAC Championship victories over Norwich in 2016, 2018 and 2021.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's kicks off a three-game stretch on the road with a 4:30 PM non-conference matchup at Wheaton College on Wednesday.

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