St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
No. 23 Villanova
Men's Soccer Tops No. 23 Villanova, 2-0
10/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 6, 2007
VILLANOVA, Pa. - Michael Mingione and Ben Clack each tallied their first goals in a Red Storm uniform to lead the men's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over No. 23 Villanova in BIG EAST action. St. John's improves to 5-4-2 (3-1-1 BIG EAST), while the Wildcats drop to 9-3-0 (4-2-0 BIG EAST).
"We had some big contributions from off the bench today and Jason [Landers] came up with some huge saves for us," said head coach Dr. Dave Masur. "It is always nice to earn a road win against a quality team like Villanova."
In the opening 30 minutes St. John's had just three shots and none were on goal. However, when Michael Mingione took the Red Storm's first shot on goal in the 38th minute, he made it count. Following a throw in from the right side, Ryan Soroka sent a pass to Mingione. Mingione then dribbled into the box and sent a shot past Villanova keeper Jason Friel to give the Red Storm a 1-0 lead. The tally was Mingione's first in a Red Storm uniform.
Down 1-0 at halftime, the Wildcats came out firing in the second half. However, Red Storm keeper Jason Landers made six saves in the second half to keep Villanova off the board. Landers stopped two shots in the first ten minutes of the second half and then stopped three more shots in a span of just 50 seconds to preserve a 1-0 lead for St. John's.
Shortly after Landers made his sixth save of the half, the Red Storm tallied again on a trio of career firsts. In the 82nd minute, redshirt sophomore Ben Clack put a header past Friel to net his first career goal. Freshmen Tafadzwa Chiduku and Michael Dal Pra both earned their first career assists on the play as well.
With the win, the Red Storm improves to 2-2-0 against Top-25 teams this season. Landers made a season-high eight saves and also recorded his third shutout in just five games this season.
The Red Storm begins a three game homestand on October 10 at 7:30 p.m. against Michigan.
