Men’s Soccer Falls to William Paterson

Written by Andrew Capitelli (SJC-LI Sports Information)

Patchogue, NY| Despite playing up a man for the entire second half, the St. Joseph's College (L.I.) men's soccer team suffered a 2-0 defeat to William Paterson university in the first game of the SJC Invitational Tournament at Danzi Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

With the loss, the Golden Eagles fall to 0-3 on the year as the Pioneers improve to 3-1.

Although outshot 7-5 in the first half, St. Joseph's held its own against an organized and creative William Paterson side and reached the break locked into a 0-0 tie.

Following the half's action, William Paterson's JP Gonzalez was shown his second yellow card and was sent off, affording the Golden Eagles the advantage of playing the entire second half up a man.

But it would be the Pioneers that struck in the opening minute after the restart when Cameron Allen converted a penalty to put the visitors up 1-0.

SJC's Michael O'Shea had a chance to knot the score up in the 68th minute when he found space on the left flank and rang a shot off the near-side post.

With the attempt by the wayside, the Pioneers went on to double their advantage in the 75th minute when Darwin Cruz banged in his own rebound in front of SJC keeper Mike Paterson.

Contained through the final 15 minutes, the Golden Eagles failed to find an equalizer and were handed their third-straight defeat in 2-0 fashion.

Paterson, who was handed his first start of the season in SJC's goal, made six saves on eight shots in a match that saw his side outshot 19-11.

The Golden Eagles return to action tomorrow, September 10 when they host Kean University in the final game of the SJC Invitational Tournament at 3:00 pm. William Paterson will face the University of Southern Maine at 12:00 pm. Live stats and video for the matches available here.