St. John’s Draws with Unbeaten Xavier, 1-1, in Cincinnati

Friday, September 21

Cincinnati, Ohio (XU Soccer Complex)

7:00 P.M.

St. John's University

4-3-1, 1-0-1BE

Xavier

3-0-4, 1-0-1BE

OT 3

OT 4

St. John's

Xavier

St. John’s Draws with Unbeaten Xavier, 1-1, in Cincinnati

9/21/2018 10:28:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Johnnies outshot the Musketeers, 16-11, on the contest

Taking on a Xavier squad that entered the contest with an unbeaten record and consecutive positive results against nationally ranked opponents, the St. John's men's soccer team controlled the contest en route to a hard-fought point on Friday night, playing the Musketeers to a 1-1 draw at XU Soccer Complex.

Skage Simonsen registered the Red Storm's lone goal of the evening, scoring in the 11^th minute off a pass from Matt Forster. The tally marked Simonsen's third of the year while Forster's helper bumped his team-leading point total to 10.

Lenny Wilson put forth another solid effort between the pipes for St. John's (4-3-1, 1-0-1 BIG EAST), making four saves on the evening and neutralizing a number of dangerous chances that did not appear on the score sheet. Xavier (3-0-4, 1-0-1 BIG EAST) only managed to squeak one past Wilson on a rebound off a saved penalty kick in the 44^th minute.

St. John's outshot Xavier, 16-11, including a lopsided 11-5 advantage in shots on goal. Xavier goalkeeper Zach Nelson proved to be a difference maker, tallying a career-high 10 saves to help the Musketeers escape with a point at home.

Matt Chandler and Cole Reardon made their Red Storm debuts on Friday night. The Johnnies have now had 25 different players, including 11 freshmen, take the pitch this season.

For the second time in as many games, the Red Storm found the back of the net on its first shot attempt of the evening. After fielding a throw-in on the far side of the pitch just inside the midfield line, Forster worked his way around a few defenders before sending a pass for Simonsen in the middle of the field. The 6-foot-3 Norwegian took a couple of steps before sending a powerful right-footed strike to the bottom left corner of the cage, slipping one past the outstretched hand of Nelson and putting the Johnnies ahead 1-0 in the 11^th minute.

Forster nearly added a tally of his own in the 26^th minute, but Nelson came up with an acrobatic save off a header in front of the net.

Xavier knotted the game at one in the 44^th minute, drawing a penalty on Jack Shearer following a seemingly negligible of contact on a loose ball just inside the 18-yard box. Wilson saved the initial attempt Simen Hestnes, but the rebound fell to a waiting Tomek Pauer, who stuffed it home and drew the Musketeers even.

St. John's came out of the gate strong in the second half, firing off three shots between the 51^st and 54^th minutes that were solid chances, but yielded no results.

The Johnnies continued to press over the remainder of the second half, including a pair of shots on target from Athit Berg that were both turned aside by Nelson.

The Red Storm recorded two more solid chances in the final 10 minutes of regulation, as Brandon Duarte sent a try just wide in the 82^nd minute before Forster had a shot attempt cleared off the line by a Xavier defender in the waning seconds of the 90^th minute.

St. John's outshot Xavier, 4-2, in the two overtime periods, but could not convert as the team's ended the contest in a 1-1 deadlock.

The Red Storm returns to action on Tuesday, playing host to Mount St. Mary's at Belson Stadium. Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. on and will be streamed live on RedStormSports.com.