Johnsen recored a career-high three shot attempts against Saint Francis (Photo Credit Jarod Minassian).

EASTON, Mass. (September 21, 2023) – The Stonehill College men's soccer team came up short in its Northeast Conference opener against Saint Francis University, 1-0, on Thursday afternoon.   

Highlights 

• First-year student Tiago Lima-Bittencourt finished the game with a team-high two shots on goal against Saint Francis.
• Senior goalkeeper Carlos Dias Neto started his fifth game of the season in net for the Skyhawks.
• Sophomore Owen Burke, senior Shon Ryan, senior Ekrem Hadzic, and sophomore Shane Fonseca each recorded a shot on goal for Stonehill.
• Sophomore Julian Jakopovic scored his first goal of the season and the lone goal of the game for the Red Flash.
• Sophomore netminder Jordaine Jaeger secured his third shutout of the season, tallying seven saves in goal for Saint Francis.

How it Happened 

• The first half saw plenty of back-and-forth action as each side's defense did not allow a goal in the opening frame. Despite not scoring, the Skyhawks had plenty of chances as they outshot the Red Flash by a 7-6 margin that included three being on goal.
• For the first 10 minutes neither side was able to generate much offensive pressure thanks to strong defensive play. However, at 10:31, first-year midfielder Martin Johnsen rocketed a shot from inside the box that would be blocked in front of an empty net.
• Less than a minute later, Bittencourt nearly gave the Skyhawks the first lead of the contest with a redirect shot right into the gloves of Jaeger off a corner kick from Ryan.
• Coming out of the halftime break both sides would continue their back-and-forth play throughout the middle third of the pitch until the 78th minute where Jakopovic found the back of the net for the game's opening goal.
• Stonehill had one more chance to find the back of the net in the final minute of the game when Hadzic rifled a shot from 25-yard out, high, and right of the Red Flash net.  

Up Next 

Stonehill (1-4-2, 0-1-0 NEC) travels to Syracuse, N.Y., for a conference matchup against Le Moyne College on Sunday at 1 P.M. Saint Francis (3-0-4, 1-0-0 NEC) returns home on Sunday, Oct. 1st, for a conference matchup against Fairleigh Dickinson University at 2 P.M.

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