Bobcats Earn 1-1 Road Tie At St. John's

Tuesday, September 22

Belson Stadium - Queens, N.Y.

7:30 pm

Quinnipiac University

0-5-2

St. John's (N.Y.)

1-6-1

OT 3

OT 4

Quinnipiac

St. John's

9/22/2015 9:50:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: QU Sports Information

Queens, N.Y. – Senior defender Justin Kody (Northborough, Mass.) scored in the 24th minute to give the Quinnipiac men's soccer team a 1-0 lead, but the Bobcats settled for a 1-1 road tie with St. John's on Tuesday evening at Belson Stadium.

With the draw, the Bobcats move to 0-5-2 on the year, with the ties coming against Connecticut and St. John's. The Red Storm sees its record move to 1-6-1 with the home tie.

Quinnipiac took its 1-0 lead midway through the first half when Kody converted on a perfect cross from freshman midfielder Matt Taylor (Dublin, Ireland). The play started when the Bobcats sent a cross in from the left wing that deflected in a crowd and rolled through to the right side. Taylor was able to chase the ball down along the right end line to keep it in play, and had a moment to survey the field before the Red Storm defense could close out on him. He picked out his pass and sent a cross into the middle of the box, bending it away from St. John's goalie Jordan Stagmiller and onto the head of Kody, who snapped his header straight into the lower-right corner to put the Bobcats on the scoreboard.

St. John's earned the equalizer in the opening minutes of the second half when junior goalkeeper Triston Henry (Scarborough, Ontario), senior defender Tobias Esche (Bremen, Germany) and St. John's forward Mike Prosuk all converged on a bouncing ball just inside the top of the box. The ball got through the crowd and into the middle of the penalty area, where Prosuk was able to get a shot off towards the empty net that hit off the crossbar. The rebound came right back to Prosuk, though, and with Henry still behind the play, he hit a low shot towards goal that Esche was nearly able to block, but it deflected off his foot and into the net to level the score 1-1 just 6:48 into the second stanza.

Quinnipiac nearly got the goal back on a corner kick, as St. John's goalie Andrew Withers punched the ball out of traffic, but right on to the head of Taylor outside the top of the 18. Taylor put a header right back towards the empty net, but Withers was barely able to retreat in time to tip the ball over the net and keep the score tied 1-1 in the 62nd minute. Neither team had a great chance down the stretch of regulation, although Henry did have to go down to his left make a save on a low shot to the near post from Filippo Ricupati in the 84th minute.

Overtime was largely uneventful, with Henry making a save on a 40-yard effort from Marcus Lindqvist in the final seconds of the first extra session on the only shot either team put on frame. Senior midfielder James Greco (Long Valley, N.J.) tried a long shot from distance in the final minute of the second overtime that was blocked, and St. John's nearly had a dangerous counter, but senior defender Erik Panzer (Nelson, New Zealand) retreated to break the play up to secure the 1-1 tie.

The Bobcats came out on their front foot from the opening kickoff and dominated the first 10 minutes. Just over a minute into the game, Quinnipiac earned a dangerous free kick just outside the box, but Greco had his free kick blocked by the Red Storm wall. At the four-minute mark, Kody took a feed in the middle of the box and spun over his right shoulder to get a good look from 12 yards out, but his left-footed effort went wide by less than a foot.

After earning a corner kick in the eighth minute, Panzer nearly got the Bobcats on the board as he snuck down the middle unmarked and had a clean header from the top of the six-yard box. Panzer snapped his header downward, but it bounced off the turf and over the crossbar, leaving the score 0-0 after Quinnipiac's third quality chance in the opening 7:30.

St. John's settled in after its sluggish start, and the game was more evenly played over the next 15 minutes. Bobcat goalie Triston Henry came up with one big save with the offsides flag up anyway, but wasn't otherwise tested, as Esche cleared away several Red Storm services. Once the Bobcats were able to make another deep push in the attacking third, they were able to secure the goal that eluded them in the early minutes, and they finished the half with a 6-1 edge in shot attempts.

The game finished with Quinnipiac holding an 11-7 edge in shots. Henry had three saves to get the tie, while the two St. John's goalies combined for two saves.

The Bobcats will be back in action on Saturday when they return home to open MAAC play against Saint Peter's for a 2 p.m. kickoff at QU Soccer Field.