The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

The Independent Student Newspaper of St. John's University

The Torch

Johnnies beat ‘Cuse on road

Senior forward Omar Alfonso led the St. John’s men’s soccer team to a 3-1 win over Syracuse University on the road, Wednesday, Oct. 31, notching two goals in the second half. The Red Storm advanced to 9-5-4 (6-2-2, Big East), as the Orange, in its regular season home finale, fell to 6-7-4 (3-7-0).

Despite having a 5-3 shot advantage over the Orange by the 26th minute, St. John’s was unable to notch a goal in the first half.

Syracuse junior midfielder Kyle Hall, however, scored the first goal of the game after he kicked one into the top-left corner of the St. John’s net at the 26:04 mark of the first half.

In the 38th minute, the Johnnies caught a break when a free kick by sophomore defender Joel Gustafsson was deflected as Syracuse sophomore Brien Chamney went to clear the box but inadvertently headed the shot into his own team’s goal. Officials did not award Gustafsson with the goal, but recorded it as an “own goal” against Syracuse. The game was tied 1-1.

St. John’s maintained possession of the ball for the majority of the first half and tried to make setups to execute on offense and steal a win.

Just four minutes into the second half, Alfonso fired a shot past the left side of Syracuse junior keeper Robert Cavicchia to put the Red Storm up by one goal at the 49:06 mark.

Again, St. John’s held the momentum in its clutches, attempting eight more shots while Syracuse added only three. Alfonso launched another shot to the net at the 66:47 mark, bringing the Johnnies up by a score of 3-1.
Alfonso’s two consecutive goals, coupled with the overall strong offensive effort by the Red Storm, made the game completely out of reach for the Orange.

“They had an ‘own goal,’ but there was still a lot of soccer left to be played,” Syracuse head coach Dean Foti said to sjuathletics.com. “We needed to do a better job keeping our defensive shape.”

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

We love comments and feedback, but we ask that you please be respectful in your responses.
All The Torch Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *