Matt Esposito Named GNAC Rookie of the Week

Suffolk University Men’s Soccer goalkeeper Matt Esposito (Wallingford, Conn.) was named Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Rookie of the Week. Esposito led the Rams to their first GNAC Championship as Suffolk topped Albertus Magnus College, 2-1 in the league’s title game. In the three playoff games, Esposito only allowed two goals making 18 saves.

Esposito opened the GNAC Playoffs with a 1-0 shutout over Emerson College making five saves in the victory. The rookie goalkeeper would follow up that effort with another five save effort in Suffolk’s 2-1 victory over top-seeded Lasell College in the semi-finals. Esposito saved his best performance for the season’s biggest game as he turned away eight of nine shots, and pushed aside a barrage of shots in a first half that saw Albertus Magnus outshoot the Rams, 16-4. Esposito made six saves in the first half, turning aside all of the Falcons chances and was aided with a little luck. Albertus appeared poised to cut the lead in half late in the opening half when Falcon junior forward Jamal Howard (West Haven, Conn.) made a spectacular individual play and fired a shot that beat Esposito, but hit the inside of the left post and bounced away to preserve the 2-0 score. He would need to make only two saves in the final 45 minutes to preserve the victory with some help from a tightened Rams’ defense and send Suffolk to the program’s first berth into an NCAA Tournament.

Esposito posts a 6-1 record with a 0.99 goals against average in 2010. The freshman goalkeeper got called into action due to an injury to senior Jack DeJesus (Swampscott, Mass.) that ended his season on October 11.

Suffolk will now open the NCAA Division-III Men’s Soccer Tournament on Saturday as they travel to Williamstown, Mass. to face the Williams College Ephs in the 60-team single elimination bracket.