St. John’s Falls to Providence, 1-0, in Double Overtime

Wednesday, October 6

Queens, N.Y. (Belson Stadium)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

7-3-1, 2-1-1BE

No. 25 Providence

7-1-2, 3-0-1BE

Providence

St. John's

St. John’s Falls to Providence, 1-0, in Double Overtime

10/6/2021 10:07:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Paulo Lima scores the game-winner for Providence in the 102nd minute

By: Andrew O'Connell

QUEENS, N.Y. – After more than a month without a loss, the St. John's men's soccer team saw its seven-game unbeaten streak come to an end on Wednesday night at Belson Stadium, falling to No. 25 Providence, 1-0, in double overtime.

The two sides went scoreless for more than 100 minutes before Paulo Lima headed home his third goal of the year off a cross from Simon Triantafilou at the 101:36 mark.

Both the Friars (7-1-2, 3-0-1 BIG EAST) and the Red Storm (7-3-1, 2-1-1 BIG EAST) entered the night unbeaten in conference play. Providence came to Queens boasting one of the nation's most prolfiic offensive attacks, averaging nearly three goals per game through its first nine matches.

Shots were even at the half, 6-6, and at the end of regulation, 9-9. The Friars outchanced the Red Storm, 3-0, during the two overtime periods.

St. John's earned five corners to the Friars' two.

Atila Ashrafi, Adrian Roseth and Jared Juleau logged two shots apiece for the Red Storm.

Luka Gavran made four saves on the evening. Despite picking up his third loss of the campaign, Gavran's season-long goals against average rose to just 0.62 while his save percentage fell to .837.

Providence narrowly missed getting on the board twice in the opening 10 minutes of action thanks to a pair of tries from Gevork Diarbian. The speedy sophomore put a shot on target in the fourth minute that required a diving save from Gavran before unleashing another blast in the 10th minute that missed right.

St. John's also got the ball forward in the early going, earning two corner kick opportunities in the first three minutes.

The Red Storm's best chance of the opening half came in the 36th minute, as Matt Chandler headed a ball that rang off the cross bar.

Juleau entered the game for St. John's after the intermission and quickly made his presence felt, firing a shot that missed just left in the 53rd minute. Nearly 20 minutes later, he recorded the Red Storm's next shot, working to create space before firing a shot on which Burns managed to get a hand in the bottom left corner of the cage.

Roseth registered the Red Storm's final shot in the 75th minute.

The Red Storm will return to action on Saturday, traveling to Villanova for a 1 p.m. showdown with the Wildcats on the BIG EAST Digital Network. Villanova, who was predicted to finish last in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll, is 4-0-0 in league play after a Wednesday win over Connecticut in Storrs. All four of the Wildcats' conference wins have been by the score of 1-0.