Sept. 8, 2006

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - The Saint Joseph's University men's soccer team suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers in the first leg of the Philadelphia Soccer Classic played at Saint Joseph's Finnesey Field.

The first half was hard-fought as neither team was willing to give up easy opportunities. The Mountaineers (2-0-1) scored the game's first goal when Steven Cant found the back of the net on a header. Brandon Moncrief headed Steve Dellamore's throw-in into the box and Cant nodded it into the bottom right corner at 26:35. Dellamore and Moncrief later set up a goal by Nick Kostov in a similar fashion early in the second half.

For Saint Joseph's (0-4), scoring chances arose throughout the first stanza. The Hawks were not able to convert on a number of free kicks in the attacking zone. With less than three minutes remaining in the half, senior John Creed sailed a long throw inside the 18-yard box; however, no Hawk forward was able to get a foot on the ball and tuck it into the open net as it rolled out of bounds.

The second played out much like the first. After Kostov's goal at 51:49, C.J. Cover added a third Mountaineer goal at 55:01 to close out the scoring. In the late stages of the game the Hawks tried valiantly to spread the field in an attempt to score, but those efforts proved fruitless as the Mount St. Mary's defense was up to the task of preserving the shutout. For Saint Joseph's, sophomore goalkeeper Joe Bodnar made one save, while Mountaineer keeper Mark Murphy tallied three.

John Cloud and Matt Tompkins teamed up for two goals to lead Philadelphia University to a 2-1 win over Manhattan in the first game of the doubleheader.

Cloud put the Rams on the board first, at 14:57, when he knocked in a pass from Tompkins that was deflected. Manhattan knotted the score at 25:27 as John Dellipriscoli took a pass from Tommy Lenhardt and connected from 12 yards out.

Philadelphia scored the game-winner at 54:31 when Cloud headed in a corner kick from Tompkins.

Mike Wallover made four saves for the Rams (1-2) while John Ciano stopped two for the Jaspers (0-5-1). Manhattan outshot Philadelphia, 12-7.

The tournament continues on Sunday at Philadelphia University when Saint Joseph's takes on Manhattan at 11 a.m. and Philadelphia hosts Mount St. Mary's at 1:30 p.m.

Philadelphia Soccer Classic (at Saint Joseph's)
Philadelphia U. 2 - Manhattan 1
Mount St. Mary's 3 - Saint Joseph's 0