St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Princeton
Red Storm Men's Soccer Ties Princeton, 1-1
10/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 18, 2007
QUEENS, N.Y. - Michael Luk tallied in the 22nd minute to give the Red Storm an early lead, but the Princeton Tigers picked up the equalizer in the second half and the game ended in a 1-1 draw. After two consecutive draws, St. John's is now 6-4-4 on the season. Princeton, meanwhile, improves to 3-7-2.
"Princeton is a determined and talented team," said head coach Dr. Dave Masur. "We had a few great chances tonight, but just could not find the back of the net for that second goal."
St. John's nearly took a 1-0 lead in just the second minute when an Alexandre Ivo corner kick set up a header for Joel Gustafsson, but the shot went just barely wide of net. Omar Alfonso then tested Princeton keeper Sean Lynch in the 12th minute, but was denied. In the 22nd minute, however, the Red Storm would not be denied. After bringing the ball up the left side of the field, David Reed sent a cross towards the far post. Luk was waiting and headed it home from eight yards out for his second goal of the season. The assist was the first career collegiate point for Reed.
Joe Walter started the second half in goal for Princeton and was immediately in the middle of the action. In the 51st minute St. John's had a fantastic opportunity to go up 2-0, but an Ivo header was saved by Princeton's Josh Walburn after it had initially beaten Walter. Walburn would further impact the game in the 64th minute when he took a free kick from 35-yards out and fired a line drive past Red Storm keeper Jason Landers to tie the game at 1-1.
Neither team could create any significant scoring chances in the first overtime. The only shot for either team was an Adam Himeno blast that went wide of the goal for St. John's. The Red Storm managed three shots in the second overtime, but could not get the golden goal. With less than a minute to go Michael Mingione had perhaps the best chance of either overtime and fired a shot on goal, but Walter was able to get his hands on it just enough to deflect it. With the seconds ticking down Ryan Soroka quickly took the ensuing corner kick, but it sailed past the far post and out of bounds.
The Princeton goal was the first goal allowed by the Red Storm in 488:13. Landers finished the game with four saves and is now 4-1-3 on the season.
St. John's returns to action on October 20 with a BIG EAST game at Cincinnati.
