SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – The No. 15 St. John’s University men dropped its first game of the season, falling to Seton Hall University, 1-0, at Owen T. Carroll Field in the Big East opener for both teams Saturday afternoon.
The Red Storm played without the services of several key contributors due to COVID-19 contact tracing protocols.
The loss snapped a five-game unbeaten streak for St. John’s (2-1-0) against the Pirates, (3-0-1) the most commonly played opponent in program history since 1979.
Tani Oluwaseyi recorded a team-high three shots while Matt Forster and Jared Juleau tallied two apiece.
Goalkeeper Luka Gavran made four saves in the second half while Jan Hoffelner turned aside three shots in the opening 45 minutes.
Seton Hall recorded two shots on goal in the opening two minutes, the first of which was saved by Hoffelner before the second found the back of the net just 98 seconds into the match. Paavo Riihjarvi scored off an assist from JP Marin.
The Pirates fired off six shots before the Red Storm recorded its first in the 16th minute from Oluwaseyi.
That look from the reigning Big East offensive player of the year would be the team’s best of the period, as the Pirates held a 7-1 advantage in shots at the intermission.
Seton Hall continued to press after the break, taking the first three shots of the half, two of which were saved by Gavran.
Starting around the 60th minute, St. John’s began to control possession in its search of an equalizer, firing off three shots in the span of seven minutes.
The Red Storm threatened on a number of occasions over the final 30 minutes, but was unable to find the back of the net.
