Men's Soccer Locks Up First HVIAC Tournament Berth With Victory Over Vaughn

FLUSHING, N.Y.—In a pressurized meeting with playoff implications, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's soccer team rose to the occasion by defeating Vaughn College, 2-1, on Saturday afternoon at Queens College.

St. Joseph's (7-6-1, 3-2-1 HVIAC) needed a win or tie in order to clinch their first playoff berth in team history. With the victory, the Bears cemented the third seed in the conference standings heading into the HVIAC Tournament that begins tomorrow.

Vaughn (3-8, 2-4 HVIAC) immediately put the Bears in a hole, scoring in the 4th minute thanks to Haider Al-Zubaidly's putback goal off of Julian Mero's miss, putting the Bears' playoff hopes in jeopardy.

Needing a response, freshman Beka Goduadze (Tbilisi, Georgia/Lyceum "NK") brought St. Joseph's back to even in the 14th minute finishing a beautiful header off a set piece delivered by Bencion Barrios (Brooklyn, N.Y./SUNY Ulster) and the score would remain tied at the break. 

The pair would team up again eight minutes into the second half, with Goduadze heading in his team-leading 11th goal of the season and the game-winner goal off of Barrios' corner kick helper.

The Bears came out swinging in a pivotal matchup, outshooting Vaughn 29-12 and controlled the game. The defense also clamped down in the second half, allowing Vaughn to get off only three shots, and none coming on net. Senior Michael Miner (Schenevus, N.Y./Schenevus) finished with four saves in earning the win in net.

The victory also guarantees the first .500-or-better season in team history and first winning season in league play.

There will be little time to celebrate, however, with a quick turnaround tomorrow afternoon heading upstate to Albany, N.Y. to face No. 2 Albany College of Pharmacy at 1 p.m. In the regular season matchup on September 28th in Brooklyn, the Bears defeated the Panthers, 5-4, in a game that the Bears never trailed and led by two on two separate occastions.