Photo by Bill Croney, The Northfield News. The Norwich Tri-Captains (left to right), Ryan Boyton, Jason Grupp, and Drew Dilley, proudly display the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship plaque last Saturday at Howard Field. The Cadets defeated St. Joseph's(Maine) 2-1 to claim the crown and win a bid to the NCAA playoffs. Kyle Przekaza and Ryan Boyton tallied goals, and Charles Maxwell stopped two of the three shots he faced to lead the Norwich University men's soccer team to a 2-1 win over St. Joseph's (Maine) in the GNAC Tournament championship game on Saturday morning at Howard Field.

The Cadets (17-2-1) will now advance to play in the NCAA Championship.

Przekaza put Norwich on top 1- 0 with less than three minutes to play in the first half as he headed Chris Rivet's corner kick past St. Joseph's goalkeeper Will Pike.

The Cadets doubled their lead midway through the second half when Boyton took a pass from Nick Micucci and chipped it over Pike to make it 2-0 at the 65:59 mark.

St. Joseph's (12-6-3) fought hard throughout the game, and they finally beat Maxwell in the 84th minute as Doug MacCallum tallied a goal off a nice assist from Kevin Melega. The Monks generated one more terrific scoring chance in the final minutes, but the Norwich defense stood tall.

The game was extremely physical with a total of 33 fouls being whistled. Six yellow cards were also issued in the contest, with each team picking up three apiece.

Norwich outshot St. Joseph's, 33-11, and the Cadets held a 6- 4 edge in corner kicks.

Pike kept the Monks in the game throughout, registering 17 saves on the day.

Przekaza was named the tournament's MVP. Boyton, Bob Begin, Jon Amell and Drew Dilley were each named to the All- Tournament Team.

The Cadets' opponent in the NCAA Championship will be released on Monday, when the official brackets are announced.

"This was a long time coming," said Norwich head coach Kyle Dezotell. "The boys had been thinking about this game for an entire year. St. Joseph's deserves a ton of credit. They had an incredible season, and gave us all we could handle in a very exciting championship match. They lose almost nothing to graduation next year, and I fully expect them to compete for the GNAC title again.

"We're just really proud of our group. The expectations were very high this season, and it is often difficult to cope with that extra pressure."

"We'll enjoy this win today and tomorrow, but we'll refocus on Monday when the NCAA bracket is released. We are very happy to win the automatic bid and be GNAC champions, but our focus is now on trying to win the national championship.

"I'd also like to thank everyone who came out to support our team today. It was a huge help and an advantage for us. Finally, congratulations to the women's team on their well-deserved GNAC title. It was a great day for the Norwich soccer programs."