St. John’s Bounces Butler, 2-0

Saturday, September 29

Queens, N.Y. (Belson Stadium)

7:00 P.M.

St. John's University

6-3-1, 2-0-1BE

Butler

2-6-1, 0-3-0BE

Butler

St. John's

9/29/2018 10:14:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Red Storm remains undefeated in BIG EAST play with convincing win over the Bulldogs

After scoring twice in the opening 21 minutes of action, the St. John's men's soccer team never looked back on Saturday night, holding Butler off the board and cruising to a 2-0 victory at Belson Stadium.

The Red Storm (6-3-1, 2-0-1 BIG EAST) is off to its best start in conference play in a decade. The last time St. John's turned in a record of 2-0-1 or better in its first three games of league action came back in 2008, when the Johnnies registered an identical 2-0-1 mark to begin BIG EAST play. That year, St. John's would go on to finish 19-3-3 with an 8-1-2 record against conference foes and make the program's fourth appearance in the College Cup. The Red Storm has also registered six wins in its opening 10 games for the first time since 2012.

Lenny Wilson made three of his four saves in the second half, registering his third shutout in four tries and improving to 4-1-1 on the year. The Aberdeen, Scotland, native lowered his goals against average to 0.63 and raised his save percentage to .826 on the season.

Mauricio Rivas helped orchestrate the Red Storm's offensive attack against Butler (2-6-1, 0-3-0 BIG EAST), posting the primary assist on both of the Johnnies' tallies.

Brandon Duarte notched the game-winner, finding the back of the net for the first time in his St. John's tenure. Not too long after Duarte put him name on the score sheet, Skage Simonsen netted his fourth of the year off passes from Rivas and Matt Forster. With his helper, Forster has now recorded at least one point in each of the team's last four games and five of the squad's past six matches overall. The Bedford, England, native leads the team with 14 points on the year and was tied for the league lead in that category entering the weekend.

For the second time in as many BIG EAST games, the Red Storm got on the board in the early going, converting on the game's second shot in the 13^th minute. With possession of the ball near the top of the box, Rivas pushed a pass to Duarte on his right side about 15 yards from the goal. The former junior college All-American then sent a strike toward the upper-left corner of the cage, sliding it past the outstretched hand of the Butler keeper and putting the Johnnies ahead, 1-0.

The Red Storm struck again just eight minutes later, as a trio of Johnnies connected on a highlight-reel sequence to find the back of the net for a second time. Forster began the chain of events by sending a cross from beyond the top left corner of the box to the back post for Rivas. The senior midfielder then headed it into the six for Simonsen, who headed it past the keeper and put St. John's on top by a pair less than 21 minutes into the contest.

The Bulldogs threatened on a number of occasions over the remainder of the contest, but the St. John's defense always had an answer to keep Butler off the board.

The Red Storm will take the week off before welcoming No. 9 Creighton, the top team in the BIG EAST standings, to Belson Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 6, for a 7 p.m. tilt.