Newton, Mass. - The third seeded Monks of Saint Joseph's College (Me.) brought down the second seeded Lasers of Lasell College in the GNAC men's soccer tournament semi-finals this afternoon, on Taylor Field.  The Monks scored early and scored late on route to a 2-0 victory over the Lasers. 

Saint Joseph's got on the board at 21:10 when Paul Robbins (Cornwall, England) crossed the ball to Doug MacCallum (Hingham, MA) who scored on a diving header into the Lasers net.   

Despite holding the edge in both shots and corner kick opportunities, Lasell could not gain control of the game. The Lasers had spurts of brilliance in the contest but luck was not on their side. With ten minutes remaining in the first period, Lasell's Zach Gagne (Somerset, MA) flicked a pass to Shane Vinnicombe (Pomfret Center, CT) who headed the ball for the Lasers best chance at tying the game before the break.  Unfortunately for Lasell, Saint Joseph's goalkeeper Will Pike (Gorham, ME) made an incredible diving stop and the Monks retained their 1-0 lead into the intermission.

Following the break, Gagne produced yet another great look at net in a one-on-one challenge with Pike.  Gagne rocketed a shot past Pike, but was just shy of the goal as the ball hit the post and bounced out of bounds.

Saint Joseph's tandem of Robins to MacCallum struck again in the 80th minute to clinch the semi-final victory. Robins assisted as MacCallum drove a hard shot past Lasell's keeper Julian Dutton (Madison, CT) for the final goal of the contest.

Both Dutton and Pike played distinguished games in net for their respective teams.  Dutton had 3 notable stops, while Pike had 7 saves in the shut out. 

Lasell's defenders Paul Meucci (Vernon, CT) and Sean Fisher (Griswold, CT) played a remarkable game, blocking many of the Monks chances, and Gagne, Dan Hatch (Avon, MA), and Kyle Cronin (Weymouth, MA) combined for 13 of Lasell's 18 total shots on offense. 

The Monks (12-5-3) now move on to the GNAC Championships on Saturday, November 8th, against Norwich University. The Lasers finish off their 2008 season at 12-7-0.