Men's Soccer Head Into GNAC Tournament

The Suffolk University Men's Soccer team will look to defend last year's Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship as they head into the 2011 playoffs on Saturday in a quarterfinals matchup at St. Joseph's College of Maine.

The Rams will enter the eight-team single elimination tournament with the seventh seed as they concluded the regular season at 13 points compiling a 4-5-1 record in GNAC play and a 5-12-1 overall mark. The second seeded Monks enter with a 7-3 conference record as they were winners in 11 of 16 contests on the year.

Suffolk will look to count on senior Danny Lloyd (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) for scoring as the senior forward has a team best 10 goals and 24 points on the year. Lloyd's 10 goals are the fifth most in the GNAC this year as he has scored eight of them in conference games. Freshman Andres Cohen (Caracas, Venezuela) has also been a consistent scorer for the Rams as he has tallied eight goals in 16 games for Suffolk including three game-winners on the season. The Rams have scored 25 times in conference games this year, which is the second most of any team in the GNAC.

Suffolk will face a challenge on Sunday as the Monks have allowed the third fewest goals on conference games at a 1.08 clip in 10 contests this year, while they have averaged a score of 2.2 goals per game. They'll be led by sophomore Zach Johnson (Westbrook, Me.) whose 15 goals are second most in the league and has amassed the third highest point total with 29. Sophomore goalkeeper Kenny Grade (Hampton, N.H.) ranks among the top in net among GNAC goalies as his eight wins and 1.09 goals against average are both third in the league.

Both teams previously met on September 28 at Dilboy Stadium in Somerville as the Monks were 2-1 victors. Johnson was the hero that night as he scored the game-winner in the game's sixty-sixth minute as his shot from 10 yards out beat Suffolk goalkeeper James Potter (North Kingston, R.I.) to his right side. Johnson took a feed from sophomore Russ Suleski (Amesbury, Mass.) and bolted up the field with a kick off his left foot. The Rams were able to move the ball offensively but the Monks defense was able to contain whatever they threw at them. Suffolk held a 23-17 margin in shots during the contest, including a 14-10 edge in the first half, but could not capitalize on their opportunities. Lloyd scored the Rams lone goal of the game as he converted on a penalty kick eleven minutes into the game. The senior sniper recorded nine shots in the contest, as he nearly scored in the game's seventh minute as he made several individual moves to push past the Monks' defense but his shot ricocheted off the goal post. Both defenses were strong in that game as Grade made 10 saves in the contest, while Potter made 11 saves.

There will be three other games on Sunday in the opening round of the tournament that will conclude on Saturday, November 5. The winner will earn an automatic qualifying bid into the 2011 NCAA Division-III Men's Soccer Tournament.

This weekend's lineup looks like this:

GNAC Quarterfinals – Sunday October 30

Game 1: #8 Mount Ida @ #1 Albertus Magnus – 1:00pm

Game 2: #5 Lasell　 @ #4 Norwich – 1:00pm

Game 3: #6 Emmanuel @ #3 Emerson – 1:00pm