STANDISH, Maine- The Norwich Men’s Soccer team reignited their rivalry with Saint Joseph’s College of Maine Tuesday night in the first meeting between the two sides since last year’s Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Semifinal.
After an early Norwich chance missed the mark, the Monks went on the attack holding a bulk of the territorial play and forcing Nicolas Lanza (Cocoa Beach, Fla.) to make a couple of early stops to keep the game scoreless. After two Cadet chances went wide, Saint Joseph’s continued to push but came up empty with the game remaining scoreless at the half.
After another early stop by Lanza, it was more back-and-forth action in the second half as neither side was willing to budge in the defensive struggle. Soon after Lanza’s fourth save of the contest, the Cadets were awarded a corner. Jeremy Pless (Titusville, Fla.) would send the ball from the corner to the mouth of the goal, where it would find the head of Cullen Swett (Williston, Vt.) and eventually the back of the net in the 87th minute. The Monks would press for an equalizer but would come up empty sealing the 1-0 victory for Norwich. Their third straight over Saint Joseph’s Maine, and the third straight shutout for Lanza…