St. John’s Falls to No. 18 FIU, 1-0

Monday, August 29

Queens, N.Y. (Belson Stadium)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

0-2-0

No. 18 Florida International

1-1-0

FIU

St. John's

The Red Storm takes the field for its match against No. 18 FIU

Atila Ashrafi logged 47 minutes against the Panthers.

Juston Rainey logged a team-high three shots in 65 minutes.

Jack Russo made his second consecutive appearance in the starting XI

Riyon Tori takes one of his two shots against FIU. The redshirt sophomore played 80 minutes.

Antek Sienkiel placed both of his shots on goal against FIU.

A crowd of 1,500 fans helped open the men's soccer season at Belson Stadium.

The St. John's men's basketball team showed up to support their fellow student-athletes.

Wesley Leggett played 70 minutes against the Panthers and took one shot.

Markus Pusztahegyi goes up for a header. He played 90 minutes for the second straight game.

Brandon Knapp played the full 90 minutes for St. John's.

Antek Sienkiel draws a foul against No. 18 FIU.

8/29/2022 10:01:00 PM | Men's Soccer

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Red Storm outshot Panthers, 15-3, including a 9-0 second half margin

By: Andrew O'Connell

QUEENS, N.Y. (Aug. 29, 2022) – The St. John's men's soccer team suffered no shortage of scoring chances on Monday night against No. 18 FIU, but the Johnnies proved unable to find the back of the net in a 1-0 loss to the Panthers at Belson Stadium.

FIU (1-1-0) came out on top despite St. John's (0-2-0) owning a 15-3 advantage in shots, including a 6-3 edge in chances on goal. The Red Storm particularly dominated possession in the second half, outshooting FIU by a margin of 9-0 in the frame.

Juston Rainey, who started and logged a team-high three shots in 65 minutes of action, registered the Red Storm's first scoring chance in the seventh minute. The freshman picked the pocket of a FIU defender in his own end to set up a one-on-one with the keeper, but Kevin Harr came up with his first stop of the night.

FIU opened the scoring in the 19^th minute, as Paulo Alves drew a foul at the top of the box to set up a free kick from just beyond the 18. Julian Hodek curved a left-footed strike into the top-right corner of the cage, a perfectly placed strike that put the Panthers ahead 1-0.

St. John's nearly tallied the equalizer in the 33^rd minute, as Atila Ashrafi sent a free kick just high and right of the cage from 25 yards out.

Rainey recorded the Red Storm's final scoring opportunity of the half in the 41^st minute, sending a shot wide by the narrowest of margins and preserving the Panthers' 1-0 lead at the intermission.

On the other side of the break, Antek Sienkiel recorded two stellar scoring chances in as many minutes in the 49^th and 50^th, but Harr made the stop on both occasions.

St. John's dominated possession for the entirety of the second half, but could not convert.

The Red Storm's final opportunity came in the 88^th minute, as Brandon Knapp headed a corner kick to a difficult spot, but Harr came up with his sixth-- and most consequential-- save of the evening.

The Johnnies will return to Belson Stadium on Friday night as part of a doubleheader with the St. John's women's soccer team. The men's side will host Lehigh at 5 p.m. before Head Coach Ian Stone's squad welcomes Navy at 8 p.m. Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN3.