The Red Storm men’s soccer squad captured its Big East opener on Friday in a dramatic, upset fashion with a late goal and shutout defense against the fifth ranked West Virginia Mountainners.

St. John’s needed only one goal off a penalty kick to notch its third victory of the season and first win within the conference.

“I thought we made a lot of good passes to set up some scoring chances,” Head Coach Dave Masur told Redstormsports.com. “We were steady as a team and we’re very happy with the result tonight.”

Alexandre Ivo, the Texan freshman midfielder, provided the game’s only scoreboard change with a penalty kick goal in the 88th minute of play.

Senior Jason Landers, with 2007 Big East Goalkeeper of the Year laurels on his resume, provided the spark on the defensive side of the ball with his first shutout of the year.

He was responsible for a highlight reel play in the 68th minute, with a headfirst dive to stop one of West Virginia’s few shots on goal.

The win brought the Red Storm back to .500 with a 3-3-1 record and a 1-0 record in the conference. Head Coach Dr. Dave Masur now has 13 conference wins in 17 chances since taking over the school’s esteemed soccer program. The loss drops West Virginia to 4-2-0, with a 0-1 mark in the Big East.

St. John’s 1, Syracuse 0

The St. John’s women’s soccer team started off its conference play strong, defeating Syracuse by a score of 1-0 Friday night at Belson Stadium.

The win brought the Red Storm’s unbeaten streak to start the season to seven games with a 6-0-1 record.

Krystle Jalalian, who has so far this season carried the team on her back, notched the only goal of the match in the 59th minute.

Jalalian put in a rebound shot after Syracuse keeper Eliza Bennett-Hattan turned Kelly McConnell’s initial shot away.

St. John’s defense was superb, registering its third straight shutout.

Despite only winning by a goal, St. John’s carried the play all the way through. Final shot total saw the Johnnies have the advantage at 13-1, while it also had the advantage in corner kicks at 8-3.

The win improved St. John’s to 4-0 at home this season, while Syracuse dropped to 3-3-2 overall.