Box Score Box score

QUEENS, NY—St. John's senior Jimmy Mulligan scored from 25 yards out with exactly 13 minutes left in the game, lifting the #19 Red Storm past visiting NJIT, 2-1, Friday night at Belson Stadium on the St. John's campus.
 
St. John's, NCAA National Champion in 1996, national runner-up in 2003 and a national semifinalist as recently as 2008, never trailed against visiting NJIT, but needed the Mulligan goal at the 77-minute mark to break a 1-1 tie against the tenacious Highlanders in both sides' 2013 opener.
 
The Red Storm, with 14 letter winners back from last season's 10-5-1 squad that qualified for the NCAAs for the fourth time in five seasons, dominated possession, territory and shots in the first half, but did not score until the 33rd minute on a goal from sophomore Sean Sepe, assisted by senior Jamie Thomas.
 
NJIT equalized on a fast breaking play in the 61st minute, as newcomer Philipp Hannemann sent a long ground pass out of midfield that hit senior Franco Gamero in stride. Gamero, NJIT's top scorer in 2012 (7 goals, 3 assists, 17 points), did the rest, bursting free and firing a shot into the net for his first goal of 2013.
 
The 1-1 tie held until Mulligan's game-winner on a rocket into the upper right corner, assisted by Daniel Herrera after an SJU throw-in, put the home team ahead to stay 16 minutes later.
 
Rafael Diaz, named one of the top three goalkeepers in Division I by the authoritative publication Soccer America before the season, made five saves for St. John's. However, his NJIT counterpart, newcomer Alexander Czempik, stood out more on this night. A junior from Germany making his college debut stateside, Czempik stopped eight shots and was largely responsible for NJIT being in contention for the whole game.
 
The total shots favored St. John's by a wide margin, 20-7, due largely to a 12-2 advantage in a dominant first half. The overall shots on goal were 11-6 for the home team, which also had an overwhelming 10-0 lead in corner kicks.
 
St. John's got four quality shots in the opening 11 minutes and Czempik was there for the save each time.
 
Despite spending most of the opening half bottled up in their defensive half of the field, the Highlanders had a chance to take the lead against the run of play with a chance in the 31st minute.
 
Cristian Marcel sent a crossing pass left-to-right across the goal mouth, but the cross was just beyond the reach of Marko Drljic, who surged forward, trying the re-direct the pass at the far post.
 
Czempik prevented a Red Storm score seconds later, when he left his feet and stretched to deflect a hard shot from Casey Osborne over the crossbar.
 
St. John's finally got the goal it had earned with its dominance when a couple of crisp passes in the box found Sepe open for a goal from eight yards out at 32:39.
 
"In the first half it was all them (St. John's) and they deserved the lead," said Orellana of his first game as head coach of the Highlanders. "In the second half, we matched them and, at times, we were better.
 
"In the first half, we saw St. John's do what they do, pressuring the ball. They'll do that to any team. They'll do it against (next opponent) Virginia (ranked 20th). We kept our composure and stayed organized, but we got caught ball-watching on the first goal."
 
Having been thoroughly outplayed in the first half, NJIT picked up its play in the second half. Coach Didier Orellana made some personnel adjustments, putting players in different spots and the Highlanders became more aggressive. The result was a more open game, with a lot more action.
 
One of the halftime changes involved putting freshman Stephen McGeever on the field to begin the second half. "He gave us some good work in the midfield and helped change the tone with his effort," said the coach.
 
Hannemann, one of four German newcomers to make their US college debut in the game as starters for the Highlanders, along with Czempik, Victor Kausch, and Sven Beverst, triggered the tying goal with a well-timed pass to Gamero, who showed a nice finishing burst..
 
St. John's nearly surged back into the lead twice before Mulligan finally did put the winners on top at 77:00. Sepe, who had scored the first SJU goal, found himself in a 1-v-1 with Czempik after a failed try for an offside trap by the Highlanders back line, but the NJIT keeper made the do-or-die save in the 67th minute.
 
A minute later, Tim Parker, the preseason co-Defensive Player in the Year in the Big East Conference, got into the act on the offensive end, ticketing a header for inside the left post of the NJIT goal. However, Joshua Mercer was on the spot for the Highlanders, clearing Parker's try off the goal line.
 
Having dodged multiple bullets, NJIT nearly grabbed the lead when Beverst got off a quick, hard shot in tight space from the top of the box that forced Diaz to make his best save of the night in the 70th minute.
 
Mulligan's subsequent game-winner was all but impossible for anyone on NJIT to stop. "That was a class goal," said Orellana. "I'm not going to blame anyone on our team."
 
Although NJIT had more of the play in the second half than it did in the first, St. John's closed out the Highlanders in impressive fashion. The Highlanders got one shot in the final four minutes and the last couple of minutes was played in their defensive end, as St. John's earned two corner kicks in the final minute.
 
"St. John's is a program that goes into every season thinking about how it can win the national championship," said Orellana of NJIT's opening day foe. "We tried to play with them and once we saw what we could do in the second half, we gained confidence
 
"I like where we're headed. We have the players to compete and we did a decent job against a very good team in a hostile environment. We can leave here with our heads up."
 
The Highlanders, who will play their first three games on the road, will take a brief Labor Day weekend break, returning to action on Tuesday with a 7 pm game at Sacred Heart in Fairfield, CT. Last season in Newark, NJIT scored a 3-2 win over the Pioneers, avenging a 2-1 loss to Sacred Heart in 2011.