#8 Men’s Soccer Battles #1 St. Joseph’s (Maine) in GNAC Quarterfinals

BOSTON – The Suffolk men's soccer team will travel to Standish, Maine, this weekend to compete in the 2017 GNAC Men's Soccer Tournament Quarterfinals. The No. 8 seed Rams will take on the top seed, unbeaten regular season champion Saint Joseph's (Maine) Sunday, Oct. 29 at 1 p.m. at the SJC Athletics Complex.

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2017 GNAC MEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT

Quarterfinals – Sunday, Oct. 29
Game 1: #8 Suffolk  at #1 St. Joseph's (Maine) 
Game 2: #5 Regis at #4 Mount Ida – 1 PM
Game 3: #6 Emmanuel at #3 Norwich – 1 PM
Game 4: #7 Albertus Magnus at #2 Johnson & Wales – 1 PM

Semifinals – Wednesday, Nov. 1
Game 5: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 1
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 3 

Championship – Saturday, Nov. 4
Game 7: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 at Highest Remaining Seed

LAST TIME OUT
With under three minutes remaining, Christian Restrepo put away his third game-winner of the season to send Suffolk men's soccer past Fitchburg State, 3-2, for the first-ever Rams' win over the Falcons as the blue-and-gold closed home regular season action Tuesday night at East Boston Memorial Park's James A. Sartori Stadium.

MORE READING: Retstrepo's Game Winner Lifts Men's Soccer to 3-2 Win Over Fitchburg

RAMS RUNDOWN
Suffolk, who concluded conference contests 4-5-1, takes a three-game win streak into Sunday's showdown. The Rams have taken down Lasell (3-2), Lesley (4-1) and Fitchburg State (3-2) to prep for the undefeated Monks. 

Offensively, Suffolk is paced by its sophomore class with the Class of 2020 scoring 23 of the blue-and-gold's 38 goals this season. Christian Restrepo leads the way with nine to go along with a team-best six assists to sit atop the squad in points as well with 24. James Fisher is second on the squad with 14 points on six strikes and two helpers with Felipe Ucros'13 points thanks to four markers and five handouts coming in third. 

The Rams use two goalkeepers consistently in Jon Brodeur and Kyle Van Cleef. Brodeur sports a 1.17 goals against average and a .789 save percentage for a 6-1-0 record, while Van Cleef brings in a 2.50 goals against average and a .731 save percentage.

MONKS MENTIONABLES
For the second straight season, St. Joe's took home the regular season conference crown thanks to a 9-0-1 league ledger. More impressive though is the unbeaten Monks have yet to give up a single strike all season long, shutting out all 16 of their opponents including a 0-0 stalemate versus Norwich Sept. 16. 

The true story to SJC's success is the conference's favorite defense. Anchored by the league's top gloves, Blake Mullen. The junior has not allowed a ball past the goal line this season in over 1334 minutes of action with his last opponent scorer coming in the NCAA Division III Tourney a year ago. The last GNAC player to sneak the rock past Mullen was Suffolk's Alberto Bittan'16 in the league's semifinals last season, Nov. 1, 2016. 

Offensively, the four-time GNAC Corvias Player of the week Brett Mattos sits in a league of his own. In 16 games, he has racked up 45 points on 18 goals and nine setups to lead the way. Trevor Lopes (8g, 2a) and Mitchell Duncan (7g, 4a) each add 18 points to an offensive unit that has totaled 57 goals this year.

INSIDE THE SERIES

• In a series that began in 2007, Suffolk trails, 4-8-1.
• The Monks have taken the last four meetings including a 5-0 victory over the blue-and-gold in the regular season Sept. 30, 2017.
• Overall, seven games have been decided in shutout fashion with SJC owning six of those victories.
• Two outings needed extra time to determine the winner. The Monks took the last OT contest, a 1-0 win in 2015. The first-ever overtime outcome between the Rams and Monks ended in a 1-1 double OT tie.
• Suffolk and St. Joseph's will meet for the third time in postseason play. The Monks own both victories including a quarterfinals 3-0 win in 2011 and last season's semifinal showdown, a 5-1 decision in Standish.

EYES ON THE GAME

SUFFOLK IN HUNT FOR GNAC GLORY

• Suffolk makes its fourth consecutive appearance in the league's tournament bracket and 17th trip overall.
• The Rams look for their first-ever victory in the tournament as the eighth seed.
• Suffolk aims for its fifth trip to the semifinals and second in as many year.
• Overall, Suffolk has one championship crown to its credit, which the Rams hoisted in 2010. 

COMING UP
The winner of Sunday's contest will advance to the semifinals Wednesday, Nov. 1 and will take on the victor of #4 Mount Ida/#5 Regis.