St. John's finally has a national championship, and it came in soccer, of all sports.
The Red Storm, a power in basketball and Northeast baseball, beat Florida International 4-1 Sunday in the NCAA men's soccer final for the school's first title in any sport."My dream has come true," said Jesse Van Saun, who scored the first goal for the Red Storm. "When you get a bunch of guys who really do believe they can win a national championship, it can happen."
St. John's (22-2-2) received goals 78 seconds apart in the first half from Van Saun and Wojtek Krakowiak. Ben Hickey and Medufia Kulego also scored for the Red Storm, who had been 0-4 in the NCAA tournament before this year.
"We were determined not to let it slip away," Hickey said. "We weren't about to let it slip away because we gave up one goal."
With former St. John's basketball coach Lou Carnesecca among those in the crowd of 20,874, St. John's scored the most goals in the NCAA final since San Francisco beat Indiana 4-3 in overtime in 1980.
It was the most lopsided victory since San Francisco defeated Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 4-0 in 1975.
"I'm proud of all their mental preparation, their unity and their passion for each other," St. John's coach Dave Masur said. "I think it showed today on the pitch. If there was a key to the victory, that was it."
Florida International (17-5-2), which had outscored four tournament opponents 13-0, closed to 2-1 in the 64th minute on Ignace Moleka's goal.
Hickey's goal four minutes later not only quieted the crowd of 20,874, it sapped the Golden Panthers of the momentum they'd worked more than 63 minutes to develop.
"You would think in a national championship game, that everyone would come out and leave everything on the table," Panthers goalkeeper Sal Fontana said. "But they wanted it more. They came out more intense."
Van Saun, whose goal against Creighton in the semifinals gave the Red Storm a spot in the title match, put St. John's ahead in the 27th minute following a defensive mistake.
Hickey intercepted Jorge del Corral's clearing attempt just outside the penalty area and sent the ball toward the goal. It bounced off the chest of teammate Jimmy Buscemi to Van Saun, who beat Fontana to the upper right corner.
Just over a minute later, Buscemi received Stefani Miglioranzi's free kick near the goal and tapped it to an open Krakowiak, who tipped the ball in for a 2-0 lead.
"I don't know if it was nerves or what, but our boys didn't play as well as they're capable," said Golden Panthers coach Karl Kremser, whose team had been 10-0-1 against nationally ranked opponents.
Hickey scored on a header four minutes after Moleka's goal, and Kulego converted a header in the 88th.