The St. John’s men’s soccer team continued their eight-game homestand this week with a pair of tough matchups against Wisconsin and Quinnipiac.
The Johnnies first faced off with the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday night for their third game of the season against an opponent from the Big 10 Conference.
St. John’s had dropped their first two games of the season against the Big 10, and early on Saturday night, it appeared like that would continue. The Badgers struck first after Mike Segbers banged in a shot past senior goalkeeper Jordan Stagmiller following a deflection to make it 1-0 in just the sixth minute.
But St. John’s would show some resilience as the first half continued on. Freshman forward Filipo Ricupati answered for the Red Storm with his team-leading second goal in three games to tie things up going into the half.
“Filipo’s a true center forward,” said head coach Dave Masur after the game. “He fights in the box, he’s got a little knack to score. He’s a great natural forward.”
As the second half got going, once again things turned south for the Red Storm. After Wisconsin’s Christopher Mueller took a hard foul that earned a free kick, the midfielder delivered a beautiful 25-yard strike that beat goalkeeper Jordan Stagmiller in the 62nd minute.
After that, things began to get a little heated between the two sides. Officials issued dual yellow cards to players on both teams after a midfield scrum in the 67th minute, and 14 minutes later Wisconsin’s Adam Lauko would be sent off after his second yellow of the game.
The Johnnies would have about ten minutes to capitalize with a man advantage, but they were unable to break the Badgers defense and would eventually lose 2-1.
“We are younger, we need experience,” said Ricupati after the game. “We need to have more effort, and be focusing on what we have to do in the second half.”
The Red Storm then continued their extended homestand on Tuesday night against the Quinnipiac Bobcats.
Much like their previous game against Wisconsin, the Johnnies got off to an extremely slow start, being held without a shot until the 21st minute. And also similar to Saturday night’s game, they fell behind early once again.
It was Justin Kody for the Bobcats who would capitalize on a header in the 24th minute to put Quinnipiac up 1-0, and they would take that advantage into halftime.
Down by a goal going into the half for the second straight game, St. John’s once again came out firing after halftime. For the Red Storm it would be freshman forward Mike Prosuk who registered his first career goal in the 52nd minute to level things at one.
Both teams would have a few decent chances as regulation continued on, however the game would go into overtime tied at one. In the two overtime periods, the teams would register just two total shots combined, as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.
This was the first draw of the season for St. John’s, and it brings their record to 1-6-1 on the season. They’ll take on Marquette in their Big East opener at Belson Stadium on Saturday night.
