St. John’s Falls to Marist, 1-0

Saturday, September 4

Queens, N.Y. (Belson Stadium)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

1-2-0

Marist

2-1-0

Marist

St. John's

The Johnnies huddle up before the start of the second half

9/4/2021 9:51:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery Photo Gallery

Luka Gavran makes a career-high six saves in the loss

By: Andrew O'Connell

A seventh-minute penalty kick proved to be the difference maker for Marist on Saturday night at Belson Stadium, as the visiting Red Foxes held off a late St. John's push to prevail, 1-0, in front of 1,187 fans.

With the loss, St. John's fell to 1-2-0 on the season while the Red Foxes improved to 2-1-0.

St. John's outshot Marist, 17-16, on the evening, but only one of the Red Storm's chances was on goal. Half of Marist's 16 tries were on net, as goalkeeper Luka Gavran made a career-best six saves in the loss.

Senior captain Brandon Knapp, who scored the game-winner on Monday against UAlbany, appeared to net the equalizer in the 63rd minute, but his tally was negated by the assistant referee's flag. Atila Ashrafi carried the ball down the right side of the box before sending a cross in front toward Knapp, who was nestled between two Marist defenders at the time. Knapp flicked the ball into the back of the net, but offsides negated the goal.

Immediately after the St. John's goal was taken off the board, Marist put together an offensive flurry that could have put the game away had Gavran not made three saves, including a pair of acrobatic stops, in the span of just one minute.

With momentum now in the Red Storm favor following Gavran's heroics, St. John's put forth an all-out push over the final 25 minutes of the contest. During that time, the Johnnies outshot the Red Foxes by a 9-0 margin, but were unable to summon another equalizer.

Marist scored the lone goal of the evening in just the seventh minute, as Huib Achterkamp buried a penalty kick opportunity after Lucas Bartlett was whistled for a foul in the box while attempting attempt to win a one-on-one battle in the air.

Following their less-than-stellar start, the Johnnies picked up the pace over the next several minutes, registering a number of quality scoring chances. None of those opportunities was more promising than Matt Chandler's header in the 23rd minute, which missed the crossbar by mere inches following a free kick from Knapp.

Andrew Bennett, who made his first appearance in the St. John's starting XI, boasted the Red Storm's most promising scoring chance of the first half's closing minutes, sending a shot just right of the post.

The Red Storm will return to action on Monday evening when it welcomes local foe Fordham to Belson Stadium for a 7 p.m. contest. Tickets are available at RedStormTix.com or by calling 1-888-GO-STORM.