Quinnipiac University
4-4-0
St. John's University
3-2-2
QU Men's Soccer Tops St. John's for Second-Ever Win vs. BIG EAST Opponent
9/20/2016 9:42:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Quinnipiac (4-4) hands St. John's (3-2-2) its first home loss of the season, coming just a little over two weeks after the Red Storm played to a 3-2 overtime loss vs. Syracuse - College Soccer News' No. 1 ranked team in the nation.
"Tonight was important because we have asked ourselves to do everything we can to not drop consecutive games," Quinnipiac head coach Eric Da Costa said. "Coming off of our last match we knew we wanted a result here tonight."
Junior defender William Pustari (North Haven, Connecticut) scored his first-career goal in the victory, while freshman goalkeeper Chrysostomos Iakovidis (Thessaloniki, Greece) earned his third-career shutout for the Bobcats.Quinnipiac's goal came at 77:57. James Doig (Liverpool, England) served a free kick on goal to the near post, and Pustari was able to head it into the back of the net to break the scoreless tie. The goal marks the first points Pustari has recorded in his career, and gives Doig his second assist of the season.
"James [Doig] put a tremendous ball into a very dangerous area," Da Costa said. "Players made good aggressive runs and Will [Pustari] did an excellent job finishing it off.
The Bobcats registered a season-high 11 shots, four coming from Rashawn Dally (Bloomfield, Connecticut).
Dally had a flurry of chances throughout the game, starting just 6:30 into play. The forward got free for a moment inside the box, then fired a shot toward goal that was blocked by Simon Tchoukriel and gathered by St. John's goalkeeper Andrew Withers for the save.
Dally had another chance in the first half at 14:35. He gathered the ball and raced past a Red Storm defender to start a breakaway. Withers was quick off his line, however, to force Dally's shot wide and keep the match scoreless.
Then it was Iakovidis' turn to keep things tied, as the Bobcats' goalie made multiple outstanding saves to help preserve the shutout. His first spectacular stop came at 17:19 when Filippo Ricupati fired a shot toward net, requiring the freshman to make a full-extension diving save. Then, less than five minutes later, Iakovidis made another diving one-handed stop on a Mike Prosuk shot. With 9:22 left in the first half, Ricupati got free with the ball again, but Iakovidis was quick off his line to snag a big touch.
"The entire team was solid," Da Costa said. "We had a good rotation going and did a good job holding off a very talented St. John's team. The back line was solid and Chrysostomos made the saves he needed to make to give us a chance to get one on the other end. This is a great team win."
The Bobcats finally broke through with just 12:03 left in regulation, handing St. John's - who has appeared in 20 of the last 22 NCAA Tournaments - its second loss of the year."I have a great deal of respect for Coach Masur and the storied program he has built," Da Costa said. "The tradition here runs deep, and lets remember these guys were National Champions in 1996 while we weren't even Division I yet. So in that regard yes for us this is a great win but moreover it gives us a bit of momentum heading into our league opener. We will enjoy our ride home and then immediately start to focus on Niagara."
Quinnipiac opens up Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play this weekend, hosting Niagara at the QU Soccer Field on Sunday, Sept. 25.
Team Stats
Pustari, William
Assisted By: Doig, James
Header off free kick
77:57
