122 The QUEE NS Courier • september 5, 2013 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com sports Johnnies take their home opener BY LIAM LA GUERE [email protected] Going into his 23rd season as St. John’s head coach, Dr. Dave Masur has seen it all. As one of Division 1 men’s soccer most accomplished active coaches, at 367-123-76 (.716), Masur has raised the St. John’s program into a national contender, but he knows every year the slates are wiped clean. “I redo every season like it’s my first,” Masur said. For this reason Masur coached the no. 19 ranked St. John’s to aggressively attack New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), a team that until last season hadn’t won more than five games since joining Division 1 in 2004, in the Johnnies’ home opener on August 30. The Red Storm dominated possession and stifled the Highlanders, until Redshirt senior Jimmy Mulligan blasted the winner in the 77th minute for the Red Storm’s 2-1 victory. Now the Johnnies’ slate reads 1-0-0. “This was a hard-fought victory against a very organized NJIT squad,” Masur said. From the first half whistle the Johnnies were in attack mode and pressured the highlanders, beating them to a 20-7 shot on goal difference in the game. Despite being the aggressor, the Red Storm allowed the Highlanders to tie the game 1-1 going into the final stretch. But after a throw in from Adrian L’Esperance, Redshirt junior Daniel Herrera dished a pass through a few defenders to find an open Mulligan, who rocketed a strike from just beyond the box that curled goalkeeper Alexander Czempik and found the back of the net. “Once I saw the ball coming across, Danny did a nice flick through the defenders and I was like that’s the sweet spot for anybody looking at the goal,” Mulligan said. Before Mulligan’s goal the Highlanders found a way to shake the Red Storm pressure. In the 61st minute NJIT’s Phillipp Hannemann connected a long pass to captain Franco Gamero, who outpaced two trailing defenders and slipped the ball passed Red Storm goalie Rafael Diaz, who moved up to contest the shot. “In the second half I said ‘we just have to do a better job of trying to connect the passes and switch the ball and it’ll come’ and obviously it did and it opened up the game for us so that helped,” said NJIT head coach Didier Orellana, a resident of Forest Hills. Sean Sepe scored the first goal for the Johnnies, which was his first career college goal, in the 33rd minute after receiving a pass from Jamie Thomas. Sepe said he thought only about shooting when he received the ball, but then again it’s a new season and the Johnnies are hungry for wins. “High pressure is the main point in our game and if we put them under pressure and they make a mistake we will capitalize,” Sepe said. Photo courtesy of St. John’s Athletic Communications Jimmy Mulligan scored the winning goal for the Red Storm in the 77th minute. ‘Biggest Loser’ trainer Bob Harper helps kids get active at US Open BY LIAM LA GUERE [email protected] Fitness expert and “Biggest Loser” star Bob Harper served up some fun for children at the US Open. Harper played tennis with young players on Saturday, August 31, after helping the United States Tennis Association (USTA) announce a new coalition to get kids active and healthy through sports. The tennis association is partnering with 20 national sports governing bodies, such as USA Volleyball and USA Fencing, and other programs, including first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative for the joint venture. Experts at the press conference agreed that children want to have fun and play, but adults need to do more to give them the opportunity to be active. “Play is the work of children,” said Dr. Alexis Covine, USTA chief medical officer. “The reason why they would is because it’s fun.” The Tennis Association and the national governing bodies will come together in roundtables to discuss the right path to get kids active. So far their three goals are to: “Make a positive impact on the development of all athletes regardless of ability or income; elevate the status and expectations of everyone coaching our youth from parent volunteers to career coaches; to drive improvements within the youth sports structure as a whole.” The USTA has made strides towards these goal by eliminating rankings from 10 and under tennis programs so young players can play to have fun. They have also started to push for use of smaller courts, racquets and balls that bounce lower to make the game easier. Before, if kids wanted to get into tennis they would have to use the same courts as adults. Following the press conference Harper took to the practice courts to play tennis with the children. “Being active doesn’t need to be something that’s an albatross around your neck,” Harper said. “It’s about fun, it’s about getting out there with these kids, making a few moves, getting a little sweat on, I think it’s important to show kids and adults being active is a good and healthy way of life.” THE COURIER/Photos by Liam La Guerre Bob Harper became the face of fitness for the USTA’s new initiative to get children active and healthy.
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