St. John's University Athletics
Philipakos Two Goals Lead St. Johns Past Syracuse, 4-0
10/26/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
It was a tough night to play with the wind and the cold, St. Johns Head Coach Dave Masur said, but the guys had some good opportunities and it was good to see us capitalize on them.
St. Johns jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in the first half when sophomore Angel Rodriguez (Toms River, N.J.) picked up a cross from sophomore Tim ONeill (Philadelphia, Pa.) and caught Syracuse goalkeeper Anthony Peters going the opposite way. Rodriguezs shot from five yards out could not be stopped by Peters, who tried deflecting the ball, but was unsuccessful.
Nearly 10 minutes later, sophomore Simone Salinno (Lucera, Italy) crossed a ball to the near corner, where ONeill picked it up and sent it toward the box. Freshman Matt Groenwalds (Mt. Prospect, Ill.) shot from about 10 yards out at 23:30 beat Peters, increasing the margin to 2-0.
St. Johns increased its lead to 3-0 at 33:28 when Philipakos scored, with an assist from Salinno. Salinnos cross from the near side toward the box met a streaking Philiapakos, who blasted a shot from 12 yards out.
The Red Storm offense picked it up again in the second half, with sophomore Chris Wingert (Babylon, N.Y.) nearly connecting on a header off of a Philipakos corner kick. Freshman John Carrozza (Springfield, Pa.) had a shot from about five yards miss just wide.
The lead grew to 4-0 at the 76:24 mark when junior Alberto Duenas (Hawthorne, Calif.) picked up a loose ball on the near sideline and sent it downfield to Carrozza. Carrozzas shot from about seven yards out was saved by SU goalkeeper Rich Scheer, but the ball deflected wide and Philipakos had a clear shot from eight yards out.
St. Johns junior goalkeeper Guy Hertz (Ramut-Musharon, Israel) was impressive in recording his sixth shutout of the year, stopping four Syracuse shots.
The Red Storm outshot Syracuse, 13-9, and had six corner kicks, while the Orangemen had only one.
St. Johns faces another stiff test in the SJU Nike Classic on Sunday, when the team hosts Big 10 power Ohio State at Stiles Field on the campus of Adelphi University in Garden City, New York. Kickoff is slated for noon.