The St. John’s Men’s Soccer team ended their second Big East match on Friday with a well-earned draw at 1-1 against the undefeated Akron Zips.
Both teams seemed to be affected by moist conditions on the pitch as the first 25 minutes resulted in overall poor play. A red card from St. John’s sophomore defenseman Markus Pusztahegyi in the 25th minute capped this sloppiness.
Even with a man down for the rest of the contest, the Johnnies struck first in the 27th minute with a goal from senior forward Nicolas Fleuriau-Chateau. Chateau’s team-leading sixth goal came seconds after subbing on.
This goal acted as a rallying cry for the rest of the team as they locked down the Zips with them going scoreless for the rest of the half. A defensive masterclass from the Johnnies back line was led by sophomore goalkeeper Alec McLachlan saving five shots in all in a season-best performance. A performance like this clearly inspired his teammates around him.
Both teams ended a soggy half with relatively even numbers on the box score. St. John’s had three shots to Akron’s two, both having one shot on goal. McLachlan saved one shot while Akron couldn’t save any, but the Zips committed more fouls with seven, and St. John’s only having four in comparison.
The Johnnies started the second half just as defensive while being a man down. Head coach Dr. David Masur decided to play the safest defense possible. For much of the half, Akron had no answer to this approach with McLachlan continuing his excellent play.
In a game-deciding play in the 87th minute, Akron was gifted a penalty kick due to another red card on St. John’s senior defenseman Justin Kopay. Akron’s junior forward Jason Shokalook stepped up and sailed the kick into the bleachers, swinging the Johnnies even more momentum.
St. John’s rode this momentum all the way to the 81st minute where the Zips finally cracked the Johnnies defense. Sophomore midfielder Rui Reis was the one to even the game up with a silencing goal off of an assist from Shokalook who redeemed himself from that missed pen. This goal all but sealed the fate of this game as both teams couldn’t score a final goal with the match ending at 1-1.
Akron ended the game with 18 shots for the night while the Johnnies only had four. With seven of those Akron shots being on goal and St. John’s lone goal being their only shot on target. As was the story with the first half, the Zips did not save any goals for the entire night but McLachlan had those five saves for the Johnnies.
St. John’s heads to Marquette this Friday at 7 p.m. with high hopes after a stellar showing.
