St. John’s men’s soccer put on a show for the home crowd last Wednesday as it defeated No. 21 Michigan 2-0. The win improved the Johnnies record to 6-4-2.

The pressure was on the Red Storm defense from the start. Only seven minutes into the game, Michigan had its first shot on goal that was turned away by senior Jason Landers.

It was then St. John’s turn to get offensive. Twenty six minutes in, sophomore Nelson Becerra scored on Michigan goalie Patrick Sperry off an assist from fellow sophomore Ryan Soroka. Soroka had two chances of his own to score in the first half but was denied on both occasions by Michigan’s Sperry.

In the second half, St. John’s seemed to take a page from Michigan’s first half playbook by putting early offensive pressure on the Wolverines. However, Michigan was able to keep the Red Storm off the board until the 73rd minute. Omar Alfonso, a senior who transferred from Loyola for this season, scored his first goal with St. John’s.

Freshman Alexandre Ivo and sophomore Michael Luk both contributed assists on the play. The Michigan offense didn’t relent, forcing Landers to make 3 saves in the final 15 minutes, but came up short nonetheless.

Head coach Dave Masur cited the excellent play of his defense in contributing to this victory.

Three of those four shutouts have come against ranked opponents. Landers’ dominating play thus far has been an integral part of St. John’s success this season, as the team has a 4-1-1 record with him in the net.