SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine— The Southern Maine Community College (SMCC) men's soccer team suffered a 6-1 defeat to the Fighting Saints of the College of St. Joseph (CSJ) in its home opener and first Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) match on Saturday, Sept. 9.

In the opening minutes, CSJ was awarded a penalty kick but the game would remain scoreless after junior goalkeeper Patrick Duddy (Sedgewick, Maine) came up with an amazing save. However, the Fighting Saints would be the first to score, inside six minutes, on a shot by Keven Andrade that trickled over the goal line.

The SeaWolves found the equalizer when first-year midfielder Yaroslav Philbrook (Chernigov, Ukraine) stepped up to bury a free kick just outside the box for his first collegiate goal at 12:26. The Fighting Saints netted a volley-goal courtesy of Amani Francois before the first half time expired to regain a 2-1 lead.

It was all CSJ in the second half as Francois scored his second by way of a penalty kick; Rosyvelt Baessa followed with a hat trick to put his team ahead 6-1.

Duddy, a 2016 United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) All-American, tallied 11 saves in 90 minutes of work. The SeaWolves now stand 0-1 in conference play, 0-2 overall. CSJ improves to 1-0.

Interim Head Coach Alex Jenkins commented, "Not the outcome we were hoping for. St. Joseph simply played better soccer today. Now the focus is Vermont Tech."

The action continues when the SeaWolves play host to the 1-2 Knights of Vermont Technical College in another YSCC match on Sunday, Sept. 10. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Wainwright Recreation Complex. Follow the game LIVE: http://www.gosmccseawolves.com/sports/msoc/2017-18/boxscores/20170910_8fqi.xml

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