PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA---The St. Francis College men’s soccer team offense was powered by five goals (three in the first half) St. Francis College men’s soccer team needed, as they defeated the Saint Joseph’s University Hawks, 5-1, on Saturday evening at Finnesey Field.

The last time the Terriers recorded five goals in a match was back on October 8^th, 2010 when they defeated Bryant University, 5-0, in Smithfield, Rhode Island. 

"It was a big win for us tonight, we needed it,” commented Head Coach Tom Giovatto.  “I thought we did a tremendous job on the offensive side of the ball after coming up short in our previous two contests.”

Sophomore forward Kevin Correa tallied his first career collegiate goal in the 22^nd minute after he rebounded a missed header opportunity by junior midfielder Simon Yttberbom.  The ball was able to ricochet towards Correa, who blasted the ball to the left back-post to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage. 

“It feels good to pick up the win tonight,” stated Correa. “I’m proud that I was able to tally my first career goal but was happier that we won as a team tonight.  We can celebrate the win today, but its back to work tomorrow and the days that follow.”

A minute later, senior midfielder and tri-captain Adam Maabdi was able to put a double-move on his defender and fire the ball past the diving hands of the Hawks goalkeeper Andrew D’Ottavi to give St. Francis a 2-0 lead with 22 minutes remaining in the stanza.  For the half, the Terriers out-shot Saint Joseph’s, 11-5.

Two minutes into the second half, the Terriers offensive fury struck again in the form of junior tri-captain John Johansson.  Ytterbom was able to take the ball deep into the Saint Joseph’s zone and place a well-timed cross that found his fellow countryman soaring on goal giving the visitors from Brooklyn Heights a 3-0 advantage. 

In trying to counter the Terriers’ offense, Saint Joseph’s got on the board in the 51^st minute as Pat McGlynn  was able to trickle the ball past senior goalkeeper Tyler Clarhaut to cut the deficit to two, 3-1 with 38 minutes remaining in the contest. 

After both teams traded off possessions for much of the next twenty minutes, St. Francis was able to find the back of the net once again, coming off a header from junior forward Gabriel Bagot after Maabdi was able to divert two defenders while placing a high-arcing touch pass that found the foot of the Nevers, France product to increase the St. Francis back up to three, 4-1.

The final marker of the evening for the Terriers came off a free kick from freshman Avyay Gujral.  Set-up approximately forty feet away from the goal, Gujral struck the ball over the wall created by the Hawks defense that rolled passed D’Ottavi giving St. Francis their first win of the season. 

The Terriers will have a few days off before they head down to Fairfax, Virginia to tangle with American University in the George Mason Invitational. 

Match Recap

• Head Coach Tom Giovatto picked up his 20^th career road victory (20-23-10)
• Senior Klement Gjushi and freshman Harry Odell garnered their first career starts in the contest against Saint Joseph’s.
• Every Terrier that was dressed to play saw action in the contest, including Farzan Bigdeli, Wesley Woodley