St. John’s Wraps Non-Conference Play with 2-1 Win Over Princeton

Tuesday, September 27

Queens, N.Y. (Belson Stadium)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

3-5-1

Princeton

3-3-1

Princeton

St. John's

St. John’s Wraps Non-Conference Play with 2-1 Win Over Princeton

9/27/2022 9:48:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Einar Lye and Wesley Leggett score for St. John’s

QUEENS, N.Y. (Sept. 27, 2022) – The St. John's men's soccer team closed out the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 2-1 victory over Princeton on Tuesday night at Belson Stadium.

The Red Storm (3-5-1) scored the game's first two goals before holding off a furious Princeton push in the final minutes of the contest.

Tuesday marked the Red Storm's third consecutive one-goal victory against the Tigers (3-3-1). Two of those wins came last fall, including one in the opening round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament at Belson Stadium.

Einar Lye tallied his first goal of the year to open the scoring for St. John's before Wesley Leggett added his second of the season with the eventual game-winner.

Atila Ashrafi, Nigel Griffith and Adrian Roseth all recorded their first assists of the year on Tuesday night.

Zenden Hart started between the pipes for St. John's, playing the first 42 minutes before exiting with injury. Emmanuel Smalios manned the cage for the remainder of the contest and made a career-best six saves to keep Princeton at bay.

The Tigers outshot the Johnnies, 16-7, on the evening, including a 12-5 edge in the second half.

Princeton controlled possession in the early going of the match, but the Red Storm managed to strike first in the 18^th minute. Dribbling the ball near the endline on the right side of the box, Griffith centered it into Ashrafi near the penalty spot. Ashrafi sent a try toward the target, but not before Lye managed to redirect the shot past the Princeton keeper and give St. John's the early lead.

Lye registered another solid chance in the 32^nd minute, but his shot was blocked in the box by Princeton's Ben Bograd.

Leading 1-0 at the intermission, the Red Storm added onto its advantage in the 55^th. The scoring sequence began with a Brandon Knapp corner kick, as the graduate student sent an out-swinger to the far post for Roseth. The Norwegian headed it toward the target, but his chance was blocked in front by a Princeton defender. Leggett found himself in perfect position for the rebound, putting everything behind a booming kick that quickly found the back of the net and expanded the Red Storm lead to a pair.

Princeton cut into the deficit with a 77^th minute goal, but not before Smalios made a couple of world-class saves from point-blank range in the 73^rd and 75^th.

The Tigers continued to push for the equalizer late in the match, but none of their four shots over the final 10 minutes of game play managed to level the score.

The Red Storm will return to BIG EAST play on Saturday night when it travels to Seton Hall. Kick-off from South Orange is set for 7 p.m. on the BIG EAST Digital Network, available on FloFC.