October 26, 2011

STANDISH, ME – Saint Joseph's College (7-4-5, 6-3-4 GNAC) and University of Southern Maine (2-12-2, 0-5-1 LEC) played to a 0-0 tie in a non-conference women's soccer match at Westerlea Way Field on Wednesday.

Neither team was able to mount a serious scoring threat in the deadlock as most of the play occurred at midfield. The Monks held a 12-10 edge in shots while the Huskies posted a 7-0 advantage in penalty corners, including a pair in the final overtime frame, on the afternoon.

SJC keeper Jaci Lorenzen '14 (Windham, Maine) tallied four saves while her counterpart, USM netminder Kat Rothe '12 (Leeds, Maine), made six stops in 110 minutes of play. Lorenzen now has six shutouts this season and 10 in her career.

Huskies junior midfielder Jess Gassman (Kennebunk, Maine) led all players with five shots – two on target, while Monks junior forward Katherine Chambers '13 (Hampden, Maine) recorded a pair of shots on goal in the in-state rivalry matchup.

Southern Maine has been blanked in 12 different games this fall, while the Monks have been held scoreless on just four occasions this season.

The rivals have met on the pitch 24 times in the history of the matchup and today's result counts as the first scoreless match – and first tie – between the sides. The Monks are 9-14-1 in the series with the Huskies. The teams have faced off once in every season since Saint Joseph's formed a women's team in 1988.

The scoreless stalemate is the 11th in the history of the SJC women's soccer program and the second this season. St. Joe's has not participated in a pair of scoreless matches in the same season since 2007 when the Monks squared off in goal-less games versus Colby College and Norwich University.

Saint Joseph's played in back to back scoreless contests in 1996 when University of New England and University of Maine-Presque Isle matched the Monks' goose-egg totals October 9th and 13th, respectively, that fall.

Prior to the match Saint Joseph's took a few moments to honor the program's three seniors: Katelyn Call (Portland, Maine/McAuley), Shannon Fitzgerald (Amesbury, Mass.) and Caitlin Schrum (Littleton, N.H.). With this trio in the fold the Monks have posted a 39-24-9 (.619) overall record and a 29-12-8 (.707) mark in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play.

St. Joe's, the #8 seed in the GNAC Tournament, will play at #1 Lasell College in a conference tourney first-round match on Saturday at 1:00 PM. USM hosts Little East Conference rival Rhode Island College in the team's 2011 finale on Saturday at 1:00 PM. 

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