St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
No. 21 Michigan
Men's Soccer Posts Shutout Against No. 21 Michigan
10/10/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 10, 2007
QUEENS, N.Y. - Nelson Becerra and Omar Alfonso each tallied a goal as the Red Storm men's soccer team defeated No. 21 Michigan, 2-0. The Red Storm improves to 6-4-2 with the win, while the Wolverines drop to 8-3-1 on the season. The Red Storm is also now 3-2-0 against ranked teams this season.
"I thought that we defended well as a group against a very good team," said head coach Dr. Dave Masur. "We attacked well and created some great scoring opportunities."
Michigan challenged St. John's early in the game as Alex Morisset forced Red Storm keeper Jason Landers to come up with a save in just the 7th minute. The Wolverines also had a shot blocked and another shot go wide in the opening 22 minutes. In the 26th minute, however, St. John's took its first shot on goal and made it count. Ryan Soroka brought the ball up the right side of the field and sent it just outside of the box to Becerra. Becerra entered the box and fired a low shot into the bottom right corner to put the Red Storm on the board. Soroka fired two shots of his own later in the half, but both were saved by Michigan keeper Patrick Sperry.
In the second half, the Red Storm kept the pressure on and forced Sperry to come up with three saves in the first 15 minutes after halftime. However, in the 73rd minute, Omar Alfonso extended the Red Storm's lead. Alexandre Ivo brought the ball across the field and dished it off to Michael Luk. Luk then quickly sent a lead pass into the box for Alfonso. As Sperry came out to challenge, Alfonso chipped a shot into the open net to tally his first goal in a Red Storm uniform. Down 2-0, the Wolverines continued to apply pressure on offense. However, Landers made three saves in the final 15 minutes to preserve the shutout.
Landers finished with six saves and earned his fourth shutout in just six games this season. Ivo, meanwhile, tallied his first career assist on the Alfonso goal.
The men's soccer team returns to action with a BIG EAST game against Louisville at 7:30 p.m. on October 13.
