St. John’s soccer gets sixth straight win over Princeton

The St. John’s soccer team notched their sixth straight win in a tight road victory over Princeton

On Tuesday night the St. John’s soccer team got another tight win on the road against Princeton to extend its winning streak to six.

Playing close games and getting a win has been the specialty for St. John’s this year, as well as over the course of the last few years.

Five out of the last six games have been victories by a 1-goal margin for the Johnnies.

The game was typically back-and-forth with neither team dominating in the first half.

The Tigers had more of the opportunities on goal, edging St. John’s in shots 7-3, and earning five corner kicks to the Red Storm’s one.

St. John’s had looks themselves as Atila Asfrafi had a shot on net just seven minutes into the game. Johan Aquilon also just missed the target with a shot in the box in the 31st minute.

However, both teams headed into halftime scoreless.

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Coming out of the break, St. John’s had a great chance at goal but two good shots in the box were blocked in the 49th minute to keep the game scoreless.

Luka Gavran would have to make some big saves in the second half to keep the Tigers off the board.

First, in the 55th minute he denied forward Daniel Diaz Bonilla and again in the 65th minute off of a shot by forward Walker Gillespie. The redshirt junior goalkeeper made four saves overall on the night.

The Johnnies finally broke through in the 79th minute as Jared Juleau turned on the fancy feet to get around his defender and fire in a cross that flew by everyone, but the Red Storm would recycle it back in.

The recycled cross back in looked like it would trickle slowly into the arms of Princeton goalkeeper Jack Roberts, but Micaah Garnette pounced on the ball and slotted it home for the freshman’s first career Red Storm goal.

The goal was a bit similar to Wesley Leggett’s goal against Creighton last Friday. Nonethless, Garnette’s strike would be enough to secure the Johnnies’ sixth straight win.

The last time that St. John’s lost was 1-0 at Belson Stadium on September 4 against Marist.

St. John’s soccer continues to churn out victories

It may not always be pretty, but the Red Storm have strung together a few wins and look to be hitting their stride resulting in them receiving votes for this week’s United Soccer Coaches and College Soccer News polls.

The win moves the Johnnies to a 7-2 record (2-0 Big East) and the victory over Princeton closes out the Red Storm’s non-conference schedule this season as it will be Big East play from here on out.

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Next up, St. John’s will head to Storrs, Connecticut to take on UConn on Saturday at 7:00pm EST on the Big East Digital Network.

St. John’s has won the last three matchups against UConn including two-clean sheet wins over the Huskies during the Spring 2021 season.

The Johnnies hold the all-time edge with a 17-14-5 record against the Huskies.