Box Score BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, NY—St. Francis Brooklyn scored a goal in each half and posted its sixth consecutive shutout in a 2-0 men's soccer win over visiting NJIT Saturday afternoon at Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier #5 field.
Both teams entered with long unbeaten streaks, but it was the Terriers (5-4-2) who emerged with their streak intact, now unbeaten in their last seven, with five wins and two ties.
Meanwhile, NJIT's (5-3-3) own seven-match unbeaten string came to a halt. Saturday's loss for the Highlanders was their first since a 2-0 defeat at Rhode Island on September 4 and they had four wins and three ties in the interim.
Playing in a setting unlike any other in college sports at Brooklyn Bridge Park on the banks of the East River, with the Statue of Liberty visible in one direction and lower Manhattan directly across the river from one end zone, the teams began play in a steady rain that followed an overnight downpour. By game's end, the sun was shining brightly.
St. Francis broke a scoreless tie on a goal off of a corner kick for redshirt senior Riccardo Milano in the 42nd minute and then added insurance in the 76th minute on the sixth goal of the season for junior John Mikaya. Freshman Vincent Bezecourt assisted on both scores.
Bezecourt was also part of a back line that was virtually impenetrable, allowing NJIT only one shot on goal against junior goalkeeper Jack Binks. And that shot in the 73rd minute may actually have been intended as a crossing pass by the Highlanders.
With Saturday's clean sheet, Binks and the rest of the Terrier defense have gone 582 minutes and 32 seconds without surrendering a goal. The last goal allowed came with 2:32 left in regulation of a 2-2 double overtime tie at Lafayette on September 13 and includes overtime that day, five regulation 90-minute shutouts and a 110-minute scoreless tie.
On the other end of the field Saturday, NJIT's sophomore goalkeeper
Christian Foust made eight saves.
The total shots were 15-10 in favor of the Terriers, who also had a 7-1 lead in corner kicks.
The statistics did not really tell the full story of the game from NJIT's point of view. The Highlanders had their fair share of possession, particularly before either team scored, and the ball spent a decent amount of time in the Terriers' defensive half of the field.
But the Highlanders never found the key to threaten over the last 20 to 25 yards on attack. When NJIT did get through, the St. Francis defense blocked three shots before the tries could reach Binks.
The opening goal by the Terriers' Milano, his first of the season, was a set piece. Bezecourt took a corner kick from the right cornerr, sending the ball to the far post, where an open Milano headed the ball back across the goal mouth and into the net, opposite post.
The second St. Francis goal, a half-hour into the second half, was likely aided by the slick surface due to the heavy rain that preceded kickoff. With the Terriers on a counter attack, Bezecourt broke into the box. Foust, the NJIT goalkeeper, came out to break up the play and slipped to the ground on the slick surface as he approached the oncoming Bezecourt. Mikaya, trailing the play by a step or two, ran onto the ball and needed only to touch the ball into the open net from 10 yards away with Foust having skidded out of the play.
Both teams begin conference play next. St. Francis will open defense of its 2013 Northeast Conference championship at Sacred Heart on Friday.
NJIT is off for a week before opening Sun Belt Conference play at home vs. Georgia State on Saturday, October 11, at 5 pm. That game is the first in Sun Belt men's soccer for both NJIT and Georgia State.
The Sun Belt Conference, sponsoring men's soccer as a championship sport for the first time since 1995, commenced 2014 conference play on October 3 with a scoreless tie between Appalachian State and Hartwick.
All six Sun Belt Conference men's soccer teams will play next weekend. NJIT will host Georgia State and Appalachian State will visit Howard on the 11th, as well. Hartwick is at Georgia Southern the next day.
