NEW YORK — The Columbia men's soccer team befuddled and frustrated the St. John's attack for 90 minutes to pull out its first win of the season, blanking the Red Storm, 1-0, Monday night at Rocco B. Commisso Soccer Stadium.
Columbia (1-2-1) got on the board in the 27th minute on the game's first shot attempt. The goal came off the head of first-year João Lima, redirecting
Jack Muoio's cross just inside the far post and into the back of the net from 12 yards out. Muoio, who had kept a clearance attempt alive before finding the head of Lima with his left-footed cross, was credited with his first assist of the season.
"You have to be willing to come in, grow, learn, work and change. Everyone is surprised about João, but quite honestly, I am not," Columbia head coach
Kevin Anderson said. "We brought João in here to do what João did tonight. There are parts of his game where he needed to grow and show that he was invested in both sides of the ball … It's his attitude, his hard work and his ability that created what he earned tonight."
Lima's first collegiate goal proved to be the only tally of the night. St. John's (1-4-1), which came into the night averaging more than 12 shots per game, was limited to just one in the first half and five on the night. The Red Storm's first shot on goal didn't come until the 52nd minute and goalkeeper
Michael Collodi was up to the task every time. The senior keeper wound up with three saves to pick up his first shutout of the season.
"For me, it's never about a shutout — it's about no shots, no crosses and no restarts in dangerous spots," Anderson added. "That's the defense's and Collodi's job, and they did great tonight."
Collodi and the defense did well to quiet St. John's after the Red Storm came out of the locker rooms with a burst on the attack. The first save required Collodi to come off his line to deflect a point-blank shot away for a corner. Midway through the second half, Collodi made another diving stop outside of the six-yard box to prevent Aidan Borra's shot from reaching the back of the net.
Matthew Leong was in behind Collodi to clear the deflected shot off the line.
As St. John's sent numbers forward late, Columbia attacked on the counter and nearly doubled the lead on a few different occasions.
Ryan Yang's left-footed strike from inside the box in the 71st minute brought keeper Zenden Hart to the ground. A breakaway attempt by
Nicolas Jandeleit was also stopped by Hart wiith less than two minutes to play.
St. John's last-second efforts were turned away and the Columbia players fell to their knees as the clock reached 90:00, celebrating their first victory of the season.
The Lions will look for consecutive wins on Saturday when they host LIU (3-2-0). Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET.
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