24 SEPTEMBER 6, 2018 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
SPORTS
Late Johnnies rally against
Lehigh falls just short
A 44th minute goal from Tommy
Dokho proved to be the diff erence
maker at Belson Stadium
on Tuesday night, as Lehigh withstood
a fl urry of late St. John’s chances to
hold off the Red Storm, 1-0, in front of
a crowd of 1,180 fans.
Lehigh’s Will Smith made fi ve of his
seven saves in the second half, holding
off a St. John’s off ense that appeared
to be on the cusp of breaking through
the entire night. The Johnnies (2-2-0)
fi red off four shots in the fi nal three
minutes alone, but could not manage
to send one home.
The Red Storm enjoyed perhaps its
best chance of the game with a little
under a minute to go, as Johan Aquilon
bounced a ball just over the crossbar
following a terrifi c cross from Matt
Forster.
St. John’s outshot Lehigh (2-2-0), 13-7,
on the game, including a 10-3 margin in
the second half. Five of the Red Storm’s
10 second-stanza opportunities were
on target as well.
A member of the Sept. 3 Big East
Weekly Honor Roll, Tani Oluwaseyi
put all four of his team-high shots on
net, but Smith came up with the stop
on each occasion.
Tyron Matuta started in goal for
St. John’s, making three saves on the
evening.
Following a back-and-forth start,
Lehigh fi nally snapped the scoreless
tie in the closing seconds of the opening
half, taking advantage of a broken
play to move ahead 1-0 in the 44th
minute. The Mountain Hawks began
the sequence with a long ball into their
off ensive zone that was mishandled by
a Red Storm defender.
Mark Forrest took possession and
sent a try on target that got past a
sliding Matuta, but was turned aside
by Ackim Mpofu. Mpofu’s deflection
sent the ball to the left of the cage,
where it was picked up by Lehigh’s
Ikem Mbalwe. Mbalwe played it in
front for Tommy Dokho, who sent
it above Mpofu and into the back of
the net.
Neither team managed to muster
up much off ense at the beginning of
the second half, as Tiago Teixeira recorded
the period’s fi rst shot nearly 15
minutes into the action.
Oluwaseyi registered three attempts
on goal between the 63rd and
71st minutes, but Smith came up with
the save on all three chances.
With their backs against the wall in
the closing minutes of play, the Johnnies
unleashed a fi nal barrage, but
could not net the equalizer as Lehigh
escaped Queens with a 1-0 victory.
St. John’s will return to action on
Saturday, Sept. 8, traveling to Philadelphia
for a 7 p.m. showdown with
the Temple Owls.
Courtesy Red Storm Sports
BWG soccer gets new season off to a fl ying start
The 2006 BWG Blue Boys competed
in the U13 Premiere
bracket at East Meadow Summer
Tournament and won fi rst place,
with four wins against SUSA, Garden
City, Smithtown and Seawolves.
During the Labor Day Weekend,
the boys also competed in the HBC
Labor Day tournament, and again
won fi rst place. This time, the 2006
Blue Team tied against Commack and
Eastern FC, but were able to win their
bracket with wins against Valencia
and Northport.
Photo courtesy of Ovid Cusu