RV/No. 22 St. John’s Rolls Past Manhattan, 3-0

Friday, September 6

Queens, N.Y. (Belson Stadium)

7:30 p.m.

St. John's University

3-0-0, 0-0-0

Manhattan

0-2-0, 0-0-0

Manhattan

St. John's

The Red Storm celebrates Simonsen's goal

9/6/2019 11:07:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Johnnies registered their third straight clean sheet to start the season

By: Andrew O'Connell

QUEENS, N.Y. (Sept. 6, 2019) – Coming off a pair of road wins to start the season in North Carolina, the RV/No. 22 St. John's men's soccer team showed no signs of letting up in its home opener against Manhattan on Friday night, topping the Jaspers, 3-0, at Belson Stadium.

With the win, the Red Storm improved to 3-0-0 for the first time since 2008, a year in which the Johnnies advanced to their fourth College Cup in program history. When the Red Storm squares off against Iona at home on Tuesday night, it will look to improve to 4-0-0 for the first time since 2001, another year in which the Red Storm finished as a national semifinalist.

"I thought it was an impressive victory for us," said Head Coach Dr. Dave Masur. "I think Manhattan has a great team. They're big, they're physical, they're organized, they're technical and I was just pleased at our ability to stay with the game plan and do the right things."

All three of the Red Storm's goals came from sophomores, as Brandon Knapp, Tani Oluwaseyi and Skage Simonsen found the back of the net. Knapp, who notched the game winner, scored his first collegiate goal. Oluwaseyi has now registered a point in each of the team's three contests this season, scoring the game winner against NC State and assisting on a goal at Appalachian State. Simonsen etched his name on the score sheet for the second time in as many outings, as he assisted on Oluwaseyi's golden goal against the Wolfpack.

Jan Hoffelner and Luka Gavran combined to record their third shutout in as many attempts this season. Hoffelner registered one save in the opening half to improve to 2-0-0 before Gavran tallied two stops over the final 45 minutes of action. The goalkeeper tandem still has a long way to go before reaching the St. John's record for consecutive clean sheets, as Jason Landers recorded seven straight shutouts during the BIG EAST Championship season of 2006.

St. John's outshot Manhattan on the evening by a tally of 19-4. Seven of the Red Storm's tries were on goal.

The Red Storm wasted no time jumping out on top, as Knapp netted his first career goal in the 14^th minute of action. Ron Alkobi took a perfectly placed cross from Matt Forster and rang a header off the right post to a waiting Knapp, who collected the ball and sent it beyond the reach of Manhattan keeper Marcellin Gohier. The assist marked the first of Alkobi's collegiate career.

Manhattan earned its fair share of chances in the opening period, as the Jaspers tallied four corners to the Red Storm's two.

Leading 1-0 at the half, St. John's extended its lead just over 10 minutes into the second stanza. Oluwaseyi converted on a Manhattan mistake, as a Jasper defender attempted to play a ball back to his goalkeeper from the center of the field. That Manhattan player did not account for the blazing speed of Oluwaseyi, who quickly tracked down the loose ball and beat the keeper for his second marker of the season.

St. John's put a final exclamation point on the evening in the 73^rd minute, when a failed Manhattan clear off the end line found an uncontested Simonsen near the top of the box. The 2018 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year promptly buried the ball into the upper 90 and gave the Johnnies the 3-0 lead with which they would end the game.

The Red Storm will continue its three game homestand on Tuesday night, welcoming another local foe, Iona, to Belson Stadium. Kick-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on ESPN3.