TERRIERS DEFEAT LONG ISLAND 4-1 ON SENIOR DAY TO CLAIM #2 SEED IN 2009 NORTHEAST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
TERRIERS DEFEAT LONG ISLAND 4-1 ON SENIOR DAY TO CLAIM #2 SEED IN 2009 NORTHEAST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT
#2 SEEDED ST. FRANCIS TO TAKE ON #3 QUINNIPIAC AT MONMOUTH THIS FRIDAY
11/7/2009 6:55:57 PM
Senior Javier Gonzalez (shown here in on-field presentation) scored the game-winning goal for the Terriers in a 4-1 victory against Long Island
Brooklyn, New York---On the final day of the regular season, more importantly on Senior Day, the St. Francis College men’s soccer team punched their ticket to the 2009 Northeast Conference Tournament with a 4-1 victory against rival Long Island University. With the victory, the Terriers finish with a 10-6-1 overall record, and 7-2-1 in the Northeast Conference to finish in second place. The Blackbirds finish out the year with a 6-12 overall record and a 3-7 finish.
St. Francis will face #3 seeded Quinnipiac on Friday at Monmouth at 1:30 pm.
The Terriers got on the board first in the fifth minute of the contest when junior forward Jeverton De Lorenzi (Rutherford, NJ, Rutherford HS) blasted a shot from 10 yards out to give the Terriers a 1-0 advantage. For De Lorenzi, it was his fifth goal of the season, tying him with senior midfielder Semso Nikocevic (Brooklyn, New York, Sheepshead Bay) for the team lead. The Terriers would take that lead into halftime while outshooting the Blackbirds by a 7-2 margin.
Long Island and St. Francis played to a stalemate in the second half of action for the first twenty minutes. In the 67th minute, Long Island’s freshman forward Jakeem Johnson tied the score at one as he blasted a shot from twenty yards away, past the reach of senior goalie Liam Burton (West Yorkshire, England / Outwood Grange).
The game-winning goal would come off the foot of senior defenseman Javier Gonzalez (Caracas, Venezuela) in the 73rd minute as he got the feed from sophomore Tevin Jackson (Rosedale, MD, Eastern Technical) off a throw-in. The native of Caracas, Venezuela leaped into air and headed the ball past LIU’s goalie Adam Janssen for a 2-1 advantage.
The Terriers continued their scoring display as three minutes later, junior forward John Sallhag (Vaxjo, Sweden) received a well-placed ball off the foot of senior mid-fielder Edson DaSilva (Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Lincoln High School) as Sallhag delivered the ball to the middle of the box and fired to the bottom right of the goal, giving the Terriers a 3-1 advantage.
The final tally of the contest came in the 81st minute as Jackson would hook up with junior forward Greg Baum (Staten Island, NY, St. Joseph by the Sea High School) as Baum launched a header from the left hash over the reach of goalie John Connolly, to give the Terriers a three goal advantage and the victory.
Prior to this afternoon’s contest, the Terriers honored their six seniors, goalie Chris Antonino, defensemen Javier Gonzalez and Anthony Matos (Wantagh, NY, Holy Cross High School), mid-fielder Edson DaSilva and Semso Nikocevic and forward Atiba Fraser (Trinidad / Tobago, St. Mary's College) in on-field presentation.
The Terriers will be in action next week for the semi-finals of the 2009 Northeast Conference Tournament, which is hosted by Monmouth University, in West Long Branch, New Jersey.
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By: Brian D. Morales (Assistant SID)