St. John’s Blanks Appalachian State, 2-0, in Season Opener

Friday, August 30

Boone, NC (Appalachian Soccer Stadium)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

0-0-0, 0-0-0

Appalachian State

0-0-0, 0-0-0

St. John's (NY)

Appalachian St.

St. John’s Blanks Appalachian State, 2-0, in Season Opener

8/30/2019 10:44:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Forster and Crawford score as St. John’s takes first game in convincing fashion

By: Andrew O'Connell

BOONE, N.C. (Aug. 30, 2019) – The St. John's men's soccer team kicked off its 2019 campaign on the right foot, blanking Appalachian State, 2-0, at Appalachian Soccer Stadium on Friday evening.

The Johnnies improved to 22-11-8 in season openers dating back to 1979, including a 16-7-6 mark under the direction of Dr. Dave Masur.

"Tonight was a really good team effort with huge efforts from lot of different guys," said Masur. "We're a fairly young team that played against a strong physical side and had a solid performance."

Matt Forster scored the game-winner for St. John's (1-0-0), finding the back of the net for the 10^th time in his Red Storm career.

Josiah Crawford added an insurance tally in the 71^st minute for his first collegiate goal. 2018 BIG EAST All-Freshman Team selection Tani Oluwaseyi picked up an assist on the play.

"I thought Tani and Josiah came on in the second half and made a really huge difference for our team," said Masur. "Matt [Forster] also had a terrific free kick goal for us."

Jan Hoffelner and Luka Gavran combined to register the clean sheet in both of their St. John's debuts. Hoffelner, who played the first half, and Gavran, who played the second half, made a save apiece.

The Red Storm outshot the Mountaineers by an 18-8 margin on the night, including a 13-5 edge in the second half. Oluwaseyi managed to fire off five shots in just 45 minutes of second-half action.

The Red Storm struck first in the 20^th minute, as Einar Lye drew a penalty just beyond the top of the box to set up a dangerous free kick for the visitors. Forster then delivered a brilliant left-footed strike that bent into the top right corner of the cage beyond the reach of Mountaineers goalkeeper Jacob Madden.

Leading 1-0 at the intermission, the Red Storm earned several good looks at the goal in the early going of the second half, none better than a 64^th minute free kick by Crawford that got through the App State wall, but was turned aside by Madden. Jared Juleau, who logged two shots in 39 minutes during his collegiate debut, drew the foul just outside the top left corner of the 18-yard box.

A few minutes later in the 71^st, a persistent offensive effort resulted in the Red Storm's second goal of the night. Dribbling down the left side, Skage Simonsen found Crawford with space in the middle of the pitch just inside midfield. The sophomore moved toward the top of the box and let loose a shot that rang off the cross bar. After clanging the pipe, the ball came to rest near the goal line, where it was cleared by Oluwaseyi back to a waiting Crawford, who buried his second chance and put the Johnnies on top by a pair, 2-0.

The Red Storm will stay in the Tar Heel State, traveling to RV NC State for a Sunday night contest on ACC Network Extra, available on the ESPN app and WatchESPN.com. Kick-off is slated for 7 p.m.