QUEENS, N.Y. – Villanova University’s Josh Belluz broke a scoreless tie with a 95th-minute golden goal, as the St. John’s University men fell, 1-0, at Belson Stadium Saturday night.
The Red Storm, which lost at home for the first time this season, dropped to 3-2-0 and to 1-2-0 in Big East. The Wildcats (1-4-0, 1-2-0) earned their first win of the season.
The Johnnies were without several key contributors for the third consecutive game due to COVID-19 contact tracing protocols. The Red Storm also played without the services of leading scorer Tani Oluwaseyi and senior defender Rafael Bustamante due to injury.
St. John’s wasted no time asserting itself in the attacking third, recording two quality scoring chances in the opening five minutes. The first came off an Einar Lye corner kick in the first minute, as Brandon Knapp redirected the ball on goal but was thwarted by goalkeeper Carson Williams. Three minutes later, Tommy Scalici had an open look in front but his chip narrowly missed its target.
The Red Storm had another opportunity in the 15th minute, as Anthony Herbert rang a header off the crossbar.
That was the Red Storm’s last of the half. Villanova recorded only one shot in the period, a 42nd-minute chance from Dominic Cyriacks that was blocked in the box by Sanoussi Sangary.
With the wind at its back in the second half, Villanova began to pick up the pace, dominating possession of the opening 15 minutes. The Wildcats registered five shots and three corner kicks during that span.
With 30 minutes remaining in regulation, the Red Storm began to counter. Over the next 10 minutes, the hosts logged four corner kicks and three shots, one of which was a Johan Aquilon header that missed putting the Johnnies ahead by mere inches.
St. John’s travels to Providence College for a 3 p.m. contest Wednesday at Anderson Stadium.