SMITHFIELD, RI – The St. Francis College Brooklyn men's soccer team (3-1-0, 3-1-0 NEC) picked up its third consecutive win by shutting out Bryant (1-1-1, 1-1-1 NEC), 1-0, on Monday evening at Beirne Stadium in Smithfield, RI. Junior midfielder
Sokol Ymeraj scored the lone goal of the game just 51 seconds into the contest. His goal proved to be the game-winner as it gave the Terriers a 1-0 lead in the first minute, a lead they would not relinquish.
The Terriers were fueled by another stout defensive effort as they recorded their second clean sheet of the season behind sophomore goalkeeper
Callum James and the backline composed of sophomore
Mamadou Diallo, junior
Harald Sollund, senior
Vicente Gallardo, senior
Domenico Pugliese, and junior
Andrew Adelhardt.
James and the Terriers' backline faced 14 shots, with four of them going on target, and they were all saved by the Terriers' keeper. James made the biggest save of the game in the 88
th minute of the contest. Bryant sent a throw-in into the box, the ball found Ben Williams who fired a shot on goal, which was denied by James who dove to his right to turn the shot away. The save sealed the win for the Terriers as that was the final scoring attempt of the evening for the Bulldogs.
Ymeraj put the Terriers on the board with his first career goal in the first minute of the game. Junior forward
El Mahdi Youssoufi sent a cross into the box that was blocked by a Bryant defender. Ymeraj was in the right place at the right time as he corralled the ball and fired it into the back of the net for his first goal as a Terrier.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
St. Francis Brooklyn – 1 | Bryant – 0
- Ymeraj netted his first career goal in the first minute of the game for St. Francis. He has now tallied points in back-to-back games. Ymeraj recorded his first point as a Terrier, an assist, in their win over Mount St. Mary's on March 15.
- James earned his third win of the season and second clean sheet. He registered four saves and faced 14 shots. The goalkeeper picked up his seventh career win and fifth career clean sheet.
- The Terriers backline of Diallo, Sollund, Gallardo, Pugliese, and Adelhardt kept the Bryant offensive attack in check. The Bulldogs recorded five goals over their first two games of the season, but were held scoreless for the first time during the Spring 2021 campaign, a credit to the Terriers' defensive prowess.
- St. Francis extended its winning streak to three in a row, its longest winning streak since it won three-straight during the 2019 season (Sep. 17-27).
- The Terriers have surrendered just one goal over their last three games and have recorded a pair of 1-0 shutouts over that span (defeated CCSU, 1-0, on Mar. 8, defeated Bryant, 1-0, tonight).
- Senior forward Nicolas Molina attempted two shots, with of them going on goal. Molina sent a strike on target that was saved by Bryant's Jack Bacon in the ninth minute.
- Bryant outshot St. Francis, 14-7, and recorded four shots on goal to the Terriers' two.
- The Bulldogs took four corners, while the Terriers attempted three.
- Tonight's victory marks career win number 123 for Terriers' Head Coach Tom Giovatto. Giovatto is now just four wins shy of tying Sam Carrington for the second-most in program history.
UP NEXT:
The Terriers are back in action on Monday, March 29, when they travel to Sacred Heart to face the Pioneers at 3 p.m.
