No. 19 St. John’s Stays Undefeated with 3-2 Win over Iona

Tuesday, September 10

Queens, N.Y. (Belson Stadium)

7:30 p.m.

St. John's University

4-0-0, 0-0-0

Iona

1-2-0, 0-0-0

Iona

St. John's

The Johnnies improved to 4-0-0 for the first time since 2001.

St. John's, which moved into the United Soccer Coaches poll at no. 19 earlier in the day, huddles before the game.

Einar Lye tallied two goals and an assist, becoming the first St. John's player to record five points in a single game since Sebastian Alvarado-Ralph in 2005.

Niko Petridis tallied the game's first goal and later added an assist.

Brandon Knapp logged a full 90 minute effort, taking two shots in the process.

Atila Ashrafi started his third game as a member of the Red Storm.

Josiah Crawford played 36 minutes and forced a turnover that led to the Red Storm's first goal.

Skage Simonsen played 59 minutes and recorded his second assist of the season.

Tani Oluwaseyi fired off two shots in 55 minutes of action.

Einar Lye scored his first goal off a free kick in the 53rd minute.

The team celebrates Lye's goal, which put the Johnnies ahead 2-1 in the 53rd.

Lye found the back of the net again less than a minute later, scoring the eventual game-winner in the 54th minute.

Niko Petridis, Skage Simonsen and Einar Lye.

St. John's improved to 4-0-0 for the first time since the College Cup season of 2001.

No. 19 St. John’s Stays Undefeated with 3-2 Win over Iona

9/10/2019 11:23:00 PM | Men's Soccer

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Red Storm improves to 4-0-0 for the first time since 2001

By: Andrew O'Connell

QUEENS, N.Y. (Sept. 10, 2019) – Behind a pair of standout offensive efforts from Einar Lye and Niko Petridis, the No. 19 St. John's men's soccer team improved to 4-0-0 on the young season with a 3-2 win over Iona on Tuesday night at Belson Stadium.

Lye, suiting up for just his fourth game in red and white, scored each of the Red Storm's final two goals less than a minute apart from each other and assisted on the first tally of the game. Lye became the first St. John's player to record five points in a game in 14 years, as Sebastian Alvarado-Ralph last accomplished the feat with a one-goal, three-assist effort in a 4-0 win at No. 2 Duke on Sept. 11, 2005.

"He's starting to come alive," said Dr. Dave Masur of the first year Norwegian midfielder. "He told me it's taken a little bit of getting used to college soccer, but he's doing really well and the last two games he's been very, very good."

Petridis opened up the scoring in the 12^th minute and added an assist on Lye's eventual game-winner in the 54^th. The goal marked the first of Petridis' St. John's career.

Skage Simonsen also chipped in an assist on Lye's game-winner, dishing out his second helper of the season.

St. John's has won four games in four tries to open the season for the first time in 18 years, last doing so during the College Cup season of 2001.

The Johnnies have now scored three or more goals in back-to-back games for the first time since 2010, when the Red Storm topped Hartford, 3-0, on Sept. 17 before dominating LIU Brooklyn, 5-0, two days later.

Entering the contest having yet to concede a goal in three games, the St. John's goalkeeping tandem of Jan Hoffelner and Luka Gavran saw its scoreless streak snapped at 326:47. The stretch was the longest for the Red Storm in nearly four years, as the 2015 squad kept opponents off the board for 387:13 in parts of five games. Gavran, who made four of the team's five saves on the evening, picked up the win to improve to 2-0-0 on the year.

The Red Storm opened the scoring early, as Petridis authoritatively scored his first goal as a member of the Johnnies in the 12^th minute. After Josiah Crawford forced an Iona turnover in the Gaels defensive zone, Atila Ashrafi played a ball in traffic to Lye, who then threaded a pass to Petridis on the right side. With just one defender to beat, Petridis buried a ball in the top right corner of the cage, putting the Red Storm ahead 1-0.

Iona tied the contest a half hour later, as Tomas Jamett and Lenworth Lopez connected to put the Gaels on the board. Jamett dribbled down the left side of the box and perfectly anticipated a charge from Hoffelner, dishing the ball in the nick of time to Lopez, who poked it home and knotted the score at one.

Coming out of the intermission with a renewed vigor, the Red Storm got a great look on goal early in the second half when Lye drew a foul just outside the box to earn a dangerous free kick. On the ensuing set piece, Petridis crossed the ball into Ron Alkobi, whose header missed just high.

The Johnnies continued to press the issue over the next several minutes, as Tani Oluwaseyi drew a foul near the top of the box to earn another chance at a free kick. Lye then drove the ball off an Iona defender on the wall, ricocheting it past the Gaels goalkeeper and giving the Red Storm a 2-1 advantage.

Just 53 seconds passed before Lye wreaked havoc on the Iona defense once again, this time puncuating a brilliant sequence of passes to put the Johnnies on top by a pair, 3-1. Brandon Duarte started the chain of events, playing the ball from the other side of midfield toward Simonsen. The 2018 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year chipped the ball forward down the right side to a streaking Petridis, who played a perfect cross in front to Lye. Lye promptly converted the scoring opportunity, finding the back of the net for the second time in the span of a minute.

"I was real proud of our guys at halftime and into the second half to come out and play with a kind of smarts, maturity and quality that was needed to get those next two goals," said Masur.

Iona pulled within one, 3-2, on an 81^st minute penalty kick, but the Johnnies held strong and quelled any chance of a Gaels comeback.

The Red Storm will look to improve to 5-0-0 for the first time since 1995 when the team hosts Penn on Friday night at Belson Stadium. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.