Late Goal Sinks St. John’s, 1-0, against Loyola Maryland

Tuesday, September 11

Queens, N.Y. (Belson Stadium)

7:00 P.M.

St. John's University

3-3-0

Loyola Maryland

3-1-0

Loyola Maryland

St. John's

Late Goal Sinks St. John’s, 1-0, against Loyola Maryland

9/11/2018 10:17:00 PM | Men's Soccer

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Greyhounds strike in the 78th minute of closely contested affair

The St. John's men's soccer team matched the efforts of preseason Patriot League favorite Loyola Maryland for 77 minutes on Tuesday night before an unlucky deflection gave the Greyhounds the eventual game winner in a 1-0 victory at Belson Stadium.

With no score on the board and just over 12 minutes remaining in the contest, Davey Mason of Loyola carried the ball down the left side and played a cross into the box. Instead of finding his teammate, Mason played the ball to the foot of Johan Aquilon, who inadvertently deflected it into the back of the net and put the Greyhounds (3-1-0) ahead for good.

St. John's nearly netted an equalizer just over four minutes later, as Jack Shearer rang a shot off the cross bar that would have knotted the game at one apiece.

The lone tally of the night put a blemish on the otherwise spotless resume of St. John's goalkeeper Tyron Matuta, who made a season-high five saves in his third career start for St. John's (3-3-0).

Matuta and the Red Storm defensive unit did a fantastic job to limit the impact of Loyola's Brian Saramago, a selection to the preseason watch list for the MAC Hermann Trophy. Saramago made nothing of his four shots on the evening thanks to the efforts of Aquilon, Brandon Knapp, Sanoussi Sangary and Tiago Teixeira.

St. John's held a pregame ceremony on the field in remembrance of those lost in the September 11th terrorist attacks. First responders and St. John's student veterans were invited to participate in the solemn observance, which featured an NYPD color guard.

The Red Storm returns to action on Saturday, kicking off BIG EAST play with a showdown against cross-river rival Seton Hall. Kick-off at Belson Stadium is slated for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast live on the BIG EAST Digital Network.