St. John's Falls to Quinnipiac, 1-0

Tuesday, September 20

Queens, N.Y. (Belson Stadium)

7:00 PM

St. John's University

3-2-2

Quinnipiac

4-4-0

Quinnipiac

St. John's

9/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Sept. 20, 2016

Final Stats | Box Score (PDF)

QUEENS, N.Y. - William Pustari scored on a header off a free kick in the 78th minute, breaking a scoreless tie and lifting Quinnipiac (4-4-0) to a 1-0 win over St. John's on Tuesday night at Belson Stadium.

The loss marked the first against an unranked opponent this season for St. John's (3-2-2), as the Johnnies only other defeat came in overtime at the hands of Syracuse, who is now ranked No. 2/1 in the nation. The falter also marked the first of the campaign for St. John's at Belson Stadium, where the Red Storm had previously been 2-0-1.

"They scored a set-piece goal and kind of made an innocuous play into a set piece," said Head Coach Dr. Dave Masur. "They were very physical. Their physicality maybe threw us off a little bit. For a good portion of the game we did some good things, created a lot of chances, but couldn't get a goal. We have to be a lot better at defending set pieces. We have to be a lot better at not giving away set pieces and we have to be a lot better at having more quality and being able to share the ball in the attacking third to get more quality chances."

Andrew Withers, who ranked third in the nation in both goals against average and save percentage heading into the contest, suffered his first loss of the season, falling to 2-1-2. The Wellington, New Zealand, native made three stops and, despite surrendering his first goal since Sept. 4, still has a goals against average of 0.38 on the season.

The Red Storm outplayed the Bobcats for a majority of the contest, outshooting Quinnipiac, 17-11, and registering six corners to their two. In the latter 45 minutes of the game, the Red Storm outshot the Bobcats, 8-3, but were unable to find the back of the net.

Harry Cooksley, who ranks in the top 10 nationally in shots per game, and Mike Prosuk paced the Red Storm with four tries apiece, while Filippo Ricupati added three attempts of his own.

The Red Storm registered several solid chances to knot the game at one in the closing minutes of the contest, but each ball narrowly missed its target.

The Johnnies return to action on Saturday, Sept. 24, welcoming local BIG EAST foe Seton Hall to Belson Stadium for a 7 p.m. kick-off. That game will be broadcast on the BIG Digital Network on FOX Sports GO.