St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Pittsburgh
Offense Explodes As Men's Soccer Tops Pitt, 4-1
9/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 23, 2007
QUEENS, N.Y. - Jeff Stepan tallied two goals, while Nelson Becerra and Michael Luk each added one as the men's soccer team surged past Pittsburgh 4-1 in BIG EAST action. St. John's improved to 4-3-1 (2-0-0 BIG EAST) with the win, while Pittsburgh fell to 1-6-1 (0-2-0 BIG EAST).
Also with the win, head coach Dr. Dave Masur earned his 300th career victory as a head coach. Masur's record now stands at 300-95-52.
"It was nice to get contributions from so many guys today," said head coach Dr. Dave Masur. "I was proud of the way we protected our home field this weekend."
Pitt had its first scoring chance of the game in just the 3rd minute, but Jason Landers was there to pick up his first save of the game. The Red Storm fired three shots on goal in the first half, but Pitt keeper Jordan Marks stopped all three and the game was scoreless at halftime.
Early in the second half, the action really began to pick up. In the 51st minute Ryan Soroka sent a pass towards the left side of the box and Nelson Becerra received the pass six yards out. Becerra quickly settled and chipped a shot past Marks as St. John's took a 1-0 lead.
Pitt quickly tied the game in the 56th minute after a St. John's foul gave the Panthers a free kick from the endline. Orane Gordon sent a pass through the box and Joe Prince-Wright was waiting at the far post. Prince-Wright quickly got a shot off and beat Landers to tie the game at 1-1.
In the 67th minute, St. John's retook the lead for good. Ben Clack brought the ball up the left side and sent a long forward pass into the box. Jeff Stepan charged towards the net and sent a header past Marks for his second goal of the season. Just minutes later, in the 71st minute, the Red Storm scored again. A foul gave St. John's a free kick from the left side of net and Michael Luk sent a pass into the box. Once again Stepan charged towards the goal and sent another header past Marks for his second goal of the game.
St. John's scored again in the 76th minute to give the Red Storm three goals in just over nine minutes. After Alexandre Ivo fired a shot on goal, Luk picked up the rebound and chipped a shot over Marks for his first goal of the season.
Landers made one save and improved to 2-0-0 on the season. Offensively, the four goals were the most for St. John's since a 5-2 win over Georgetown on September 10, 2006.
The Red Storm travels to Connecticut on September 28 and follows with a game at Providence on September 30.
