St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Fairleigh Dickinson
Men's Soccer Opens 2007 Season With 2-0 Over Fairleigh Dickinson
9/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 1, 2007
In front of 1,472 fans, the Red Storm (1-0-0) kicked off the 2007 season with a 2-0 win over Fairleigh Dickinson. Adam Himeno tallied the team's first goal of the season early in the second half and Ryan Soroka added a goal later in the half as well.
"A lot of guys contributed tonight," said head coach Dr. Dave Masur. "A lot of guys played and we found out some answers, but we still have some question marks as we look towards our next game."
The Red Storm's first chance came nine minutes into the first half when sophomore Nelson Becerra fired a shot wide of goal. Just minutes later Becerra had another opportunity that bounced off of the post. Following a foul in the closing minutes of the first half, Soroka fired a shot that beat Fairleigh Dickinson goalkeeper, Elvir Prasovic. However, defender Xavier McFarlane was in just the right place and came up with a save of his own to keep the Red Storm off the board.
Scoreless at halftime, St. John's maintained possession during the early stages of the second half. In the 55th minute, Jara Habib brought the ball down the left side of the field. He stopped and faked out a defender before sending a cross into the box. Himeno was there waiting and sent a header right into the back of the net.
The Red Storm extended their lead in the 76th minute when Soroka tallied his first goal of the season. Sophomore Alex Paszek lobbed a long pass over the defense that fell right at the feet of Soroka. Soroka then chipped a shot from 20 yards out that beat Prasovic.
For Red Storm junior keeper Neal Kitson, it was a night of firsts. The game marked Kitson's first career start, win and shutout in a Red Storm uniform. Paszek also tallied his first career point with his second half assist.
St. John's returns to action at home on September 2 against Fairfield. The game is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. and follows the 5:30 p.m. match up between Buffalo and Fairleigh Dickinson.
