St. John's University Athletics
ST. JOHNS ADVANCES TO THE FINAL FOUR WITH 2-0 WIN OVER SMU
12/9/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
The win moves the Red Storm into the NCAA College Cup Final Four, where they will play the winner of Sundays Clemson-Indiana match. This is St. Johns first Final Four appearance since 1996, when they won the NCAA Championship.
It was obviously a great win and were really excited about it, St. Johns head coach Dave Masur said. We were playing on the road in a hostile environment and we knew we had to contain them. I told the guys to stay patient and it would come to them.
Were excited about the win and ready to take the next step.
After several scoring chances through the first and second half, the Red Storm finally capitalized in the 83rd minute. Freshman forward
The rebound, however, came to freshman midfielder Chris Corcoran (Marshfield, Mass.), who beat a defender and blasted a shot from 15 yards out on the side of the box, beating SMU keeper Byron Foss to the lower near post at 82:21.
We always work on getting in good spots, and I just happened to be in the right spot at the right time, Corcoran said. It just came off the post and I beat their defender an put it away.
SMU pressed, but could not find any openings in the Red Storm defense. Finally, in the last minute of play and with Foss playing up to give the Mustangs an extra offensive player, SMU took a free kick that was knocked out of the box by SJU sophomore center-back Chris Wingert (Babylon, N.Y.). Philipakos picked up the ball, dribbled once and sent a shot from 68 yards out that bounced five or six times into the empty net, giving St. Johns a 2-0 lead at 89:10.
Coach always tells us to keep after it and follow our shots, he said. Im disappointed I didnt get one earlier, but that second one was nice.
The game took a dramatic turn in the 56th minute when freshman forward Andre Schmid (Sacracmento, Calif.) picked up a loose ball and came in on Foss for a one-on-one chance. An SMU defender broke the play up in the box and Schmids momentum carried him into Foss, causing him to fall. The referee called a red card on Schmid and the Red Storm were forced to play a man down.
Ten minutes later, however, Matteo was bringing the ball up on the near side of the field when SMU defender Ross Spencer took him down. As Matteo grimaced in pain on the ground, the referee pulled a red card on Spencer and the teams were back to even strength.
The Mustangs had several good chances in the second half, but the Red Storm defense and junior goalkeeper Guy Hertz (Ramat-Hasharon, Israel) came up big. SMU senior All-American, and Hermann Trophy winner, took one shot that Hertz saved and bounced back to Gonzalez. His second shot went to the far side of the net, but Wingert was there to clear the ball and end the threat.
Later, forward Brett Corbin blasted a shot from the far side of the box and Hertz, who fractured his right hand in the BIG EAST Championship game against Connecticut, made a diving save and deflected the ball away with his injured hand.
The Red Storm had controlled the first half of play for much of the time, with Matteo taking a pair of free kicks that were broken up by SMU defenders. Sophomore Simone Salinno (Lucera, Italy) had a pair of shots and sophomore Angel Rodriguez (Toms River, N.J.) took a shot in the final minute of play in the first half that went just wide.
St. Johns outshot SMU, 16-10, overall and had four corner kicks, while the Mustangs had none.