QUEENS, New York – Fifteen years to the day of the last meeting between Marist and St. John's, graduate captain
Huib Achterkamp buried a penalty kick in the seventh minute to power the Red Foxes to a 1-0 win over the Red Storm on Saturday evening from Belson Stadium.
Marist improves to 2-1 on the year, winning its second 1-0 game in 2021. St. John's falls to 1-2 on the campaign.
Achterkamp, who scored five of his six goals from the penalty spot in 2019, went low-middle with a right-footed strike for the game's only tally. On the other end, the Red Fox defense clamped down on the St. John's attack, limiting the home team to just one shot on goal.
Junior midfielder
Stefan Copetti paced Marist with four shots. Marist's lone save came via junior goalkeeper
Dylan McDermott, who checked into the game in the 80th minute to replace an injured
Samuel Ilin.
Luka Gavran made six saves in the Red Storm net, while Anthony Herbert led St. John's with three shots.
- The Red Foxes generated two corner kicks in the first seven minutes, the second attempt leading to an Achterkamp header that the Red Storm defense booted away.
- Marist earned the penalty kick when Copetti was taken down from behind while in the box.
- St. John's tried to equalize in the 20th minute, but Atila Ashrafi's 15-yard boot sailed above the net.
- A minute later, senior midfielder Skylar Conway's shot from close range by the left side was blocked, leading to a Marist corner. Junior midfielder Joe Mac sent the ball in and right to Copetti, but he headed it off the crossbar and out.
- In the 34th minute, just after checking in, graduate forward Justin Jaime rocketed a 20-yard shot near the left corner that Gavran scooped up, preserving the 1-0 score.
- With about 2:30 until halftime, St. John's laced a corner kick into the box for Herbert, but he sent it wide left of the goal.
- Less than 30 seconds later, Marist earned a free kick that junior defender Henrique Cruz blasted into Gavran's mitts from close to midfield.
- In the 52nd minute, St, John's pressured with Wesley Leggett's header, but it was skied wide right.
- Marist rattled off five shots and three corner kicks in a span of about two minutes around the 60-minute mark to try and extend their lead. Conway had the initial shot and another blocked, redshirt junior defender Demarre Montoute's attempt was deflected close to the left post, and junior midfielder Antek Sienkiel couldn't pot two attempts, the latter a header wide right.
- In the 63rd minute, St. John's appeared to equalize, but the officials waved off the play. Marist responded with Sienkiel ripping a 25-yard shot from the middle that Gavran dove to punch out. Copetti's rebound attempt was also denied.
- With 18 minutes to go, the Red Storm had two chances on two corner kicks, but neither shot went on target.
- In the 80th minute, with St. John's on the attack, Ilin was injured on a collision in the penalty area. The Red Storm maintained possession, and Adrian Roseth fired a close-range shot that Montoute slid to send away from the net.
- With about six minutes remaining, junior defender Bernardo Gracindo made a superb 1-on-1 defensive play to dispossess a St. John's attacking player in the right corner of the box, preventing a shot on goal.
- In the 87th minute, St. John's had its first shot on goal via Lucas Bartlett's 20-yard rip, but McDermott lined it up for the save.
- Despite the one shot on goal, St. John's led 17-16 in total shots.
- Marist had eight shots on target, a season-high.
- Copetti was one of four Red Foxes with multiple shots, including Sienkiel, Conway, and Achterkamp.
- The Red Foxes also generated a season-best eight corner kicks compared to the Red Storm's five.
- Marist only played 13 Red Foxes on the evening; eight members of the starting XI played the full 90 minutes.
- Marist recorded its first victory over St. John's in 29 years. The Red Foxes last beat the program 3-2 in overtime on November 3rd, 1992.
- The last regulation win over St. John's occurred on September 27th, 1986, a 4-2 triumph.
- Saturday marks Marist's first win over a Big East opponent since Marist defeated Villanova 1-0 on August 29th, 2014.
- Six of Achterkamp's seven goals as a Red Fox have come from the penalty spot.
- McDermott played in his first collegiate match, and racked up his first collegiate save.
- All three of Marist's games this season have been decided by 1-0.
"Great road win for the guys. To their credit, they showed a great response all week after a subpar performance at Navy, and I felt we deserved the result.
St. John's is a well-coached and talented team, but we exhibited both the style of play and the grit we will need to be successful this season." – Head Coach Matt Viggiano
- Marist concludes its four-game road trip to start 2021 by visiting UAlbany on Tuesday, September 7th at 7 p.m.
