St. John’s Downs Manhattan, 2-1

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's men's soccer team earned its first win of the 2024 season with a 2-1 victory over Manhattan at Belson Stadium on Thursday evening.

Senior Macoumba Ba played a full 90 minutes in Thursday's contest, registering his first goal of the season on a successful penalty kick in the 24^th minute. The Dakar, Senegal native also scored his first career tally with the Johnnies from the penalty dot last season.

Fellow midfielder Miguel Diaz found the back of the net for the second-straight game with a strike in the 58^th minute. The Brooklyn product also played a full 90 minutes of action against the Jaspers. Sophomore midfielder Camron Boumsong registered his first collegiate point with an assist on Diaz's tally.

St. John's Head Coach Dr. David Masur picked up his 398^th victory with the Red Storm, sitting two triumphs away from reaching the 400-win plateau. The program is also three victories away from reaching 500 total wins, sitting at 497. St. John's also moved to 15-0-1 all-time against the Jaspers.

The Johnnies (1-1-1) put together eight corner kicks in the match while Manhattan (0-2-0) produced just two of its own. St. John's also fired away nine shots with four attempts on target.

The Red Storm produced three shots through the first 10 minutes, seeing a chance from Mateusz Marciniak in the opening minute, followed by a pair of sharp-angle opportunities from Thomas Lamaille and Martin Kozak.

Midfielder Eric Danquah cut into the box with the ball in the 24^th minute and was tripped with no call on the initial play. Following an official review, the center judge awarded the Red Storm with a penalty kick following the foul. For the third time as a Johnnie, Ba ripped a low liner into the bottom left corner and gave the Johnnies a 1-0 lead.

St. John's held possession for a large portion of the first half, holding Manhattan without a shot over the first 27 minutes of the contest. Goalkeeper Alec McLachlan stared down a Tony Yeboah chance from just outside the 18-yard box, swallowing up the low opportunity for his first save of the contest. The Stockport, England native turned away one more Manhattan chance before the end of the half.

Fresh off the bench, attacker Jackson Gould nearly doubled the Red Storm lead in the 35^th minute. Kozak reeled in a pass on the left side before turning back and rocketing a cross into the six-yard box. The pass found Gould inside the six and the Clifton Park, N.Y., native saw his header ring off the pipe for the team's fifth shot of the half.

After a balanced start to the second half from both sides, Manhattan broke through in the 56^th minute on a Ziv Dahan goal from Harry Bark to knot the match at one.

Just 81 seconds after the Jaspers scored their equalizer, St. John's applied heavy pressure and found the back of the net to secure the lead. Boumsong led Diaz into open space through the middle of the attacking zone and the senior speedster blew past several defenders before beating the keeper's outstretched leg on the far post with his left foot for a 2-1 edge.

The Johnnies kept Manhattan out of the box for the majority of the final 30 minutes. St. John's surrendered just one final chance to Manhattan's Dahan in the 78^th minute but continued to clog the middle and force another shot wide of the frame. The Red Storm turned away two final crosses by the Jaspers in the final minute of play to hold on for the one-goal victory.

St. John's will wrap up its homestand against UAlbany on Sunday, part of a Red Storm soccer doubleheader. Kickoff from Belson Stadium is slated for 7:30 p.m. and will be streamed live on FloFC.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Macoumba Ba

Camron Boumsong

Eric Danquah

Miguel Diaz

Jackson Gould

Martin Kozak

Thomas Lamaille

Mateusz Marciniak

Alec McLachlan

St. John's University Athletics