STANDISH, Maine - The Regis (Mass.) men's soccer team fell in its first ever appearance in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Semifinals on Wednesday afternoon as the top-seeded Saint Joseph's College Monks defeated the fifth-seeded Pride 5-0 at the SJC Athletic Complex.
With the win, the Monks improve to 17-0-1 on the season and advance to the GNAC Championship, where they will take on the winner of the other semifinal between #3 Norwich and #2 Johnson & Wales. The Pride's season comes to a close with the defeat, ending the season with an overall record of 10-8-1.
Sophomore midfielder Cody Elliott (Gorham, Maine) got the Monks on the board first on the afternoon by tallying his second goal of the season in the 13th minute. Elliott got his head to a cross of the foot of classmate Mitchell Duncan (Sanford, Maine) and nodded it into the cage past the Pride's Jesse Bonilla (Ramona, Calif.) for a 1-0 lead.
The Pride was able to keep the game close for the remainder of the first half and first 18 minutes of the second half, but a 63rd minute goal by junior Brett Mattos (Mahopac, N.Y.) extended the Saint Joseph's lead to 2-0 and opened the floodgates for the Monks. After the ball pinballed around in front of the net, Mattos lined it up perfectly from in close, bicycling the ball past a scrambling Bonilla and into the net to extend the lead to two. Senior Sean Baker (Medfield, Mass.) picked up the assist on the goal.
Just under four minutes later, Monks sophomore Ryan Buonaiuto (Scituate, R.I.) extended the lead to 3-0 by netting his fifth goal of the season. Buonaiuto got to the end of a long throw-in by Jackson Taylor (Gorham, Maine) after the ball bounced over the head of a Regis defender. Buonaiuto was left unmarked and drilled the ball into the cage for the goal.
Junior Jesse Ramirez (Dumont, N.J.) added a goal for the Monks to give the hosts a 4-0 lead shortly following the goal from Buonaiuto. Noah Elmore (Berlin, Vt.) scored two goals late in the second half to cap the Monks' 6-0 victory.
Blake Mullen (Manchester, Conn.) got the win in goal for the Monks, making one save in 81 minutes of action. Bonilla was credited with the loss, despite making seven saves in 87 minutes of action.
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