St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
6-4-4, 2-2-2BE
Georgetown
5-8-1, 2-3-1BE
St. John's Falls to Georgetown, 1-0
10/22/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
WASHINGTON - The St. John's men's soccer team suffered just its second lost of the BIG EAST season on Saturday afternoon, falling on the road to Georgetown, 1-0, on a blustery day in Washington, D.C.
With the loss, the Red Storm fell to 6-4-4 on the season with a 2-2-2 record in BIG EAST play. The Hoyas improved to 5-8-4 overall with a 2-3-1 mark in league action.
The wind played a significant factor throughout the match, with gusts reaching as high as 40 miles per hour in the Washington metropolitan area.
Despite picking up the loss, redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Withers recorded a season-high six saves on the afternoon.
Harry Cooksley tallied a game-high seven shots, more than half of the team's 12 tries overall. The junior from London was one of four Red Storm field players to log a full 90-minute effort alongside Alistair Johnston, Marco Torriani and Marcus Lindqvist.
With the wind at its back in the first half, Georgetown jumped out to an early lead in the eighth minute, as Zach Knudson beat his defender on the left side before playing it inside the 18 to Brett Campbell, who finished on the ground to give the Hoyas a 1-0 advantage.
After Withers managed to keep the Hoyas at bay with a few stops, the Red Storm responded with a flurry beginning in the 24th minute, firing off two shots and earning a pair of corner kicks in the span of just 52 seconds.
The Hoyas threatened a few more times over the remainder of the opening stanza, but the Red Storm's defensive efforts managed to keep Georgetown from extending its lead.
At the intermission, the Hoyas held an 11-4 advantage in shots and a 4-2 lead in corners earned.
With the wind at its back to start the second half, St. John's came out firing. The Red Storm registered a number of quality chances in the opening minutes of the period, including a bending try from Cooksley that just missed the top left corner of the net in the 49th minute.
Ten minutes later, the ball came to a wide-open Thomas Mickoski near the top of the box, but the freshman from Ontario sent it wide of the cage.
Just a few minutes after that, Cooksley kept a shot on the ground that looked like it might find the bottom right corner of the cage before narrowly missing to preserve the Hoyas' one-goal lead.
After Georgetown briefly regained momentum, the Red Storm put together one final push over the last six-plus minutes of play, beginning with a corner from Cooksley in the 84th.
With less than two minutes remaining in regulation, Cooksley drew a penalty just outside the top-left corner of the 18-yard box, earning a dangerous free kick that slid just right of the far post and out of play. The Red Storm took possession following the ensuing goal kick and made one final push, as Mike Prosuk drew a foul about 30 yards away from the Georgetown goal with just over 30 seconds to play. Cooksley stood over the ball once again, but the wall of Georgetown defenders blocked his attempt and sent it toward the far sideline. Just before the ball went out of bounds, Cooksley put one final try on it, sending it toward the goal. The loose ball drew the Georgetown keeper out of his box and gave the Red Storm an open look at the net in the closing seconds, but the alternate referee raised his flag for an offside call and ended the Johnnies' hopes of a comeback.
The Red Storm will return to action on Wednesday, traveling to Villanova for a midweek match with the Wildcats, a team that handed Creighton its first loss of the BIG EAST season on Saturday.
Team Stats
CAMPBELL, Brett (4)
Assisted By: KNUDSON, Zach
27 down the left side to 10 in the box,
7:44
