Sept. 23, 2006

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's men' soccer team earned its first victory of the 2006 season in gritty fashion Saturday night, topping the La Salle Explorers, 3-2, on Finnesey Field. Senior Dean Niedosik scored in the 68th minute put the Hawks ahead to stay, as Saint Joseph's weathered the Explorers' attack over the final 20 minutes to secure the win, their first in 13 games dating back to 2005.

La Salle (4-4-1) tallied two goals in a span of three minutes in the first half to take a 2-0 lead. Taylor Young and Jeff Spiker scored unassisted goals for the Explorers in the 30th and 33rd minute, respectively. The Hawks (1-6-1) got on the board just before halftime as senior captain Joe Grayauskie sent a shot towards the La Salle net off of an indirect kick. The high arcing shot came down just inside the crossbar and out of the reach of goalkeeper Dan Pfeiffer to cut the lead to 2-1 at the break.

In the second half, Saint Joseph's caught a break in the 65th minute as freshman Travis Gast launched a shot from midfield that caught Pfeiffer too far out of his net to recover in time. Gast also assisted on Grayauskie's goal to earn his first three points of the season. Less than three minutes later, the Hawks were awarded a free kick just outside of the La Salle 18-yard box. Four SJU players huddled around the ball in an attempt to keep the Explorers guessing as to who would take the kick. Finally, freshman Jason Lewis tapped the ball to Niedosik, whose low driving shot beat Pfeiffer to the left side.

The Explorers tried valiantly to get back in the game, but Hawks keeper and reigning Soccer Seven Co-Player of the Week Bryan Benedict and the SJU defense held off the attack. Benedict finished with two saves while Pfeiffer tallied four. The latter stages of the game saw four cards handed out, including a straight red card to La Salle's Jeff Spiker for violent conduct.

Saint Joseph's next takes the field on Friday, September 29 as the Hawks play host to the Richmond Spiders in an Atlantic 10 match. Kick-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.