The St. John’s men’s soccer team followed up their win against Columbia last Wednesday with a 2-0 shutout victory at DePaul on Saturday.
The Red Storm (7-1-3, 1-1-0) did not waste any time as they had an opportunity to score as early as the third
minute when freshman Jordan Rouse’s attempt hit the top of the crossbar and landed out of play.
Senior Andres Vargas continued to build up momentum for the Johnnies as the forward took four shots in the first
fourteen minutes of the game, testing DePaul goalkeeper Eric Sorby.
“We had a lot of chances in the first half and even in the second half, but their goalie made some good saves,” said St. John’s head coach Dr. Dave Masur.
Sorby could not keep up with the constant shots by the Red Storm and eventually let one slip by him in the 18th minute after a chip from junior midfielder Nick Matthews, giving the Johnnies a 1-0 lead.
However, the Johnnies were not satisfied with a one goal lead. They continued to attack and fatigue DePaul’s (3-6-1, 0-2-0) defense and forced the goalkeeper to come up with a number of saves.
Continuing his positive form, Andres Vargas sent a shot past Sorby in the 36th minute. Freshman Brandon Savino assisted Vargas, which was his second helper of the game.
“Andres is probably one of our utmost strongest and quickest players,” said Masur. “If we get him good plays he can
put them away.”
The second half was similar to the first, except for the fact that the St. John’s offense was unable to add to their
tally of two goals.
Their closest opportunity came in the 85th minute when a foul in the goalie box set up a penalty kick for St. John’s.Daniel Herrera stepped up to take the kick, but his shot was ultimately denied by the Demons’ goal keeper.
Junior goalkeeper Rafael Diaz only had to make one save throughout the entire 90 minutes of Saturday’s game. This was his fifth shutout this year.
St. John’s travels back home to host the Villanova Wildcats (7-2-1, 0-0-1) on Wednesday evening. The Red Storm will look to
improve their Big East record while the Wildcats are searching for their first conference win of the season.
