Ruiz’s Hat Trick Powers Men’s Soccer to 5-1 Win Over Sarah Lawrence
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Joseph's (L.I.) (4-5-1 (4-0-1)) | 2 | 3 | 5 |
|
Sarah Lawrence (4-8-0 (0-4-0)) | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Written by Andrew Capitelli (SJC-LI Sports Information)
Yonkers, NY| Sophomore Rayneri Ruiz recorded the first hat trick of his career as the St. Joseph's College (L.I.) men's soccer team earned a 5-1 victory over Skyline Conference rival Sarah Lawrence College (4-8, 0-4 Skyline) at Tibbetts Brook Park on Saturday evening.
With the win, the Golden Eagles--unbeaten in five games--improve to 4-5-1 on the year and 4-0-1 in conference play. Now the only unbeaten team in conference play, SJC sits atop the Skyline standings following Saturday's action.
Ruiz opened the scoring in the 21st minute when he finished off a cross from sophomore Damian Duda and later doubled the guests' lead in the 35th minute with a breakaway tally.
The Gryphons cut the deficit in half on the other side of break when Camary Jonas bagged his sixth goal of the season in the 47th minute, but Ruiz's unassisted goal 11 minutes later restored SJC's two-goal lead in the 58th minute.
Senior Chance Casey extended the Golden Eagles' lead to three (4-1) in the 79th minute with his second goal of the season, and Duda capped off the evening's scoring in the 87th minute when he beat the Sarah Lawrence keeper far post from the left.
Freshman Steven Deng (4-2-1) picked up the win for the Golden Eagles in a three-save effort. Sarah Lawrence's Mehran Hicks recorded nine saves.
Ruiz's hat trick increases his season goal and points totals to eight and 19, respectively. As of Saturday evening, Ruiz was second in the conference in points-per-game (2.11) and fourth in goals-per-game (.889).
The Golden Eagles return to action on Wednesday, October 11 when they hit the road to face St. Joseph's College (Brkln) in a Skyline Conference showdown at 7:30 pm. Follow the action with live stats here.
