St. John’s Downs Monmouth, 1-0, in Home Opener

Friday, September 1

Queens, N.Y. (Belson Stadium)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

2-0-1, 0-0-0

Monmouth

1-1-1, 0-0-0

Monmouth

St. John's (NY)

9/1/2023 10:35:00 PM | Men's Soccer

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Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau nets his third goal of the season

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's men's soccer team used a second-half surge and a goal from Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau to take down Monmouth, 1-0, at Belson Stadium on Friday evening.

With the victory, the Johnnies (2-0-1) have won five of their last six home openers since 2018.

After registering the first two goals of his collegiate career on Monday night against Rutgers, Fleuriau Chateau remained hot, knocking home his third tally of the week with a goal in the 60^th minute. Miguel Diaz and Max McNulty provided an assist on the game's only score with the latter jumping out to a three-game point streak to start the season.

Sophomore Alec McLachlan picked up his first clean sheet with the Red Storm, tallying five saves on the evening, two shy of his career high.

St. John's rattled off nine shots in the final 45 minutes of the game, including four on net. The Johnnies finished the game outshooting Monmouth, 12-10.

The Red Storm staved off an early first-half push from the Hawks (1-1-1) as McLachlan turned away a pair of opportunities in close before Justin Kopay bodied a shot at the goal line from Monmouth's Ollie Brorsson in the 16^th minute.

In the 26^th minute, McNulty produced the Johnnies' best opportunity of the half, reeling in a stretch pass from defender Antek Sienkiel. The striker broke loose down the left side before nearly netting his shot at the back post.

Both teams exchanged possessions over the final 19 minutes of the half, entering the break deadlocked at zero.

Monmouth also pressured St. John's to start the second half as McLachlan fought off a low dribbler from Patrick Osiecki in the 50^th minute.

The momentum started to shift in favor of the Johnnies, tallying a pair of shots on net in less than two minutes. Diaz found open space outside the top of the box in the 56^th minute before feeding Macoumba Ba inside and launching a shot just over the far crossbar. Fleuriau Chateau also ripped a point-blank screecher just over a minute later but was turned away by Hawks' keeper Eryk Dymora.

The Red Storm continued to pressure Monmouth and eventually found the back of the net in the 60^th minute. Following a give-and-go touch pass that led Diaz down the right side, the Brooklyn native bolted into open terrain and sent a pass toward the middle. McNulty redirected the ball to an open Fleuriau Chateau, who found the back of the net for a 1-0 edge.

The Johnnies battled through the final third of the contest, continuing to rocket shots at the Hawks' netminder. Sophomore midfielder Ricky Schissler ripped one towards the near post with six minutes remaining, but Dymora punched it away for his third save of the half. The Red Storm held off the Hawks down the stretch to earn its second victory of the season.

St. John's will look to continue its success on Labor Day, hitting the road and heading to Penn State for a 5 p.m. match.