Men's Soccer Concludes 2013 Home Slate With Win Over Medgar Evers

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Powered by two goals, including the game-winner, from junior Raul Urshela (Orlando, Fla./Colonial), the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's soccer team concluded their 2013 home slate and senior night with a 3-2 triumph over Medgar Evers College on Tuesday night at the Aviator Sports Complex.

St. Joseph's (3-10) avenges their 2-1 loss to the Cougars earlier in the season and snaps a two-game losing streak while Medgar Evers (1-12) concludes their season having lost nine games in a row.

The two teams were evenly matched from the opening kickoff as there were no shot attempts by either team. However, both offenses were antsy throughout as the two squads combined for over 20 offside throughout the game.

The Cougars recorded the first shot of the match in the 7th minute when Bears junior goalkeeper Michael Miner (Schenevus, N.Y./Schenevus) made the first of his five saves. Medgar Evers continued to apply pressure to St. Joseph's backline but they were unable to break through as Miner and the Bears defense stifled the Cougars offense.

St. Joseph's would end the scoreless drought in the 18th minute when Miner scored on a penalty kick for his second goal of the season after Medgar Evers committed a foul in the box.

In the following 12 minutes after the goal by Miner, the Cougars offense struggled to stay onsides as the Bears defense played up and it came back to bite them as Urshela scored his first goal of the night in the 31st minute when he took a Matthew O'Neill (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) free kick off a Medgar Evers offsides and broke away from the defense to put St. Joseph's up 2-0.

The next ten minutes saw the Bears have a couple of scoring chances but shots by sophomore Kyle Johnson (Red Hook, N.Y./Red Hook Central) and Urshela were turned away by Cougars goalkeeper Christopher Welsh who made three saves on the night. St. Joseph's headed into the break up 2-0 despite being outshot 10-4 in the period.

Trailing to begin the second half, Medgar Evers came out and stepped up their intensity controlling the ball in the Bears end for most of the early going. The payoff would come in the 58th minute as Wayne Williams took a loose ball and jetted up the sideline before firing a shot past Miner to get Medgar Evers on the board and cut the deficit to 2-1.

Less than two minutes later the Cougars would tie the game up at 2-2 on a goal by Michael Mieres that left St. Joseph's stunned.

The Bears regained their composure and with less than six minutes left to go Urshela took a Johnson throughball and slid it past a charging Welsh to give St. Joseph's the lead for good.

The backline for the Bears was able to withstand a late charge by Medgar Evers and won despite the Cougars holding a 17-8 shot advantage for the game.

Urshela paced the Bears offense with his four shots on goal and now has a team-high eight goals on the season while O'Neill picks up his team-leading fifth assist of the year. Johnson contributed a shot on goal and now has two assists on the season. Miner earned his third win in net for St. Joseph's.

Medgar Evers was led by Williams who had a game-high five shots while Mieres and Nikolai Calder each produced four shots.

St. Joseph's concludes their 2013 campaign with a matchup against Yeshiva University on Sunday, November 3rd. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m.