Oct. 21, 2007

Box Score

Saint Joseph's men's soccer continued its winning ways defeating the Richmond Spiders 1-0 at Finnesey Field Sunday afternoon. Freshman Colin Baker's header into the far netting in the 85th minute off a Travis Gast free kick was the difference.

"I'm proud of the team," SJU head coach Tom Turner said. "The boys played gutty today. They had tired legs from Friday's battle (double OT win over George Washington) and persevered with a well-earned victory today."

In what was an up-and-down, hard-fought game, the Hawks controlled most of the play, holding possession and getting quality shots on Spiders goalkeeper, Eric Sciocchetti (seven saves). However, before the Baker goal, Richmond had the best opportunity of the game in the 68th minute when Jordan Evans had a one-on-one opportunity with Hawks goalie, Bryan Benedict. Benedict was up to the task and preserved the then-scoreless game.

The Hawks then came back to apply pressure on the Spiders defense and it paid off when a counterattack by Jason Lewis drew a foul on Richmond about 40 yards from goal just before 84 minutes. Travis Gast sent the ensuing free kick to the far post where Baker headed it over Sciocchetti's head into the net.

SJU held off a short rally by the Spiders, including a near-tying goal by David Koepfer, which was saved on the goal line by a Hawk defender.

Bryan Benedict earned his second shutout of the year, making four saves in net. Baker holds the team-lead with four goals on the season. Gast has three assists in 2007.

The win sends SJU to a 4-7-1 record overall and 3-0-0 in Atlantic 10 play. Coupled with a UMass loss to Charlotte, the Hawks took sole possession of first place with nine points in three games, losing none. Richmond fell to 4-8-1 (1-2-0 A-10). The win was the first for the Hawks over the Spiders in six matches (1-5-0).

Next weekend Saint Joseph's travels to Ohio to take on Dayton (Friday, Oct. 26) and Xavier (Sunday, Oct. 28).