STANDISH, Maine -- Mount Ida College suffered their first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's soccer defeat on Monday afternoon, falling 2-0 to host Saint Joseph's College at Westerlea Way Field.
The Monks handed the Mustangs their first conference loss of the season with a pair of first half goals, as freshman Brett Mattos (Mahopac, N.Y.) scored off a Johnny Thomas (Boston, Mass.) pass in the 23rd minute and junior Sean Baker (Medway, Mass.) potted an insurance goal with 32 seconds left in the opening stanza.
Mount Ida had the advantage in the second half, as Thomas was slapped with a red card in the 54th minute, which meant the hosts would be forced to play a man down for the remainder of the game. Unfortunately, the Mustangs could manage just two shots – both off target – over the final 36 minutes.
At the 58:02 mark, the Mustangs did win a penalty shot, to be taken by freshman forward Jordain Williams (Colchester, Vt.), but first-year keeper Blake Mullen (Manchester, Conn.) dove to his right to make the save and preserve the Monk's two-goal lead.
GOAL HISTORY
1. 22:16 SJMMS15 Brett Mattos Johnny Thomas
St. Joe's got on the board in the 23rd minute, when Thomas found a seam up the middle and hit Mattos with a bounding through ball. Mattos collected the feed with his chest down and played the ball to his foot, just as Mount Ida sophomore keeper Riley Ford (Guilderland, N.Y.) came out to challenge, before tucking a shot into the bottom right corner of the goal.
2. 44:28 SJMMS15 Sean Baker (unassisted)
The Monks doubled their advantage just before intermission, as Baker collected a rebound off a Nicholas Borowski (Webster, Mass.) shot and tapped the ball into the heart of the net. Senior Ralph Houanche (Port-au-Prince, Haiti) set up the score with a well-placed free kick from about 35 yards out near the right sideline.
The Monks have now won six straight, the longest win streak since the 2013 team posted a seven-gamer.
The Mustangs entered today's contest having won seven of the last eight matches by a combined 26-8 score.
Ford and sophomore William Planey (Dallas, Texas) split time in goal for the Mustangs, with the former posting four saves in in the first half and the former registering one stop in the second stanza.
For the Monks, Mullen recorded three saves to post the second shutout of his collegiate career.
Saint Joseph's returns to action on Thursday when the Monks play host to Anna Maria College (2-8-1, 1-4-0 GNAC) in a 7:45 PM start at Deering Memorial Stadium in Portland.
Mount Ida is off until next Saturday when the Mustangs travel to Emmanuel College (5-8-0, 4-2-0 GNAC) for a 3:00 PM kick-off.