St. Francis men’s soccer steaming toward another conference title

Terriers remain NEC's lone unbeaten following stellar weekend

October 24, 2017 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Junior midfielder Ali Tounkara provided a highlight-reel goal Saturday at Brooklyn Bridge Park to help St. Francis Brooklyn remain the lone unbeaten men's soccer squad in the Northeast Conference. Photo courtesy of SFC Brooklyn Athletics

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The St. Francis Brooklyn men’s soccer team has already established itself as a dynasty in the Northeast Conference, having captured three league championships in the previous four seasons.

But they refuse to be spoiled by their historic success.

Leaving their past accomplishments where they belong, in the Remsen Street school’s trophy case, the Terriers (9-4-1 overall, 3-0-1 NEC) are frontrunners to win yet another conference crown and make their fourth NCAA College Cup appearance in the past five seasons.

Head coach Tom Giovatto’s squad extended its current unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1) on Sunday at Brooklyn Bridge Park, thanks to some deft legwork by freshman forward and reigning NEC Rookie of the Week Chris Gruver, and a fancy but somewhat unexpected finish from junior Ali Tounkara.

“We’re just having a good run right now,” Giovatto told the Brooklyn Eagle on Tuesday morning after running through practice with his red-hot squad.

“I think right now we’ve been in a good mood the whole year,” he added. “[The] guys are getting healthy. The guys like each other and that’s a big key.”

Locked in a scoreless deadlock with St. Francis University (Pennsylvania) in the 76th minute, the Terriers finally made their push toward what would be the contest’s lone tally.

Gruver, who provided the assist on the game-winner by senior and Brooklyn native Dominick Falanga in last Friday’s 3-1 triumph over Robert Morris University (RMU) at BBP, deked several defenders on his way to sending a cross into the box toward Tounkara.

The third-year French striker corralled the ball in the penalty area with his back to the goal and didn’t bother to turn around for a shot on net.

Instead, Tounkara somehow used the eyes in the back of his head to unleash a back-heel, no-look shot that found its way past SFU goalie Marcus Rojas and inside the right post, giving the Terriers a 1-0 lead they would not surrender and leaving them as the lone unbeaten team in the NEC through four games.

“Gruver made a nice run down the line and it ended up on Ali’s foot,” Giovatto said of the eventual game-winner. “It was great instincts, he back-heeled it and caught the goalie by surprise, and really caught everybody by surprise.”

Tounkara’s masterful goal was his fourth of the season, leaving him just one shy of Falanga, a New Utrecht High School product who leads SFC with five tallies, including a hat trick in Friday’s victory over RMU, which garnered him the NEC Player of the Week award.

“Dom has been great all four years,” Giovatto noted. “Pretty amazing. Three goals in less than six minutes.”

Senior goaltender Roberto Bazzichetto made three saves for the Terriers, who outshot the Red Flash, 12-6, en route to extending their unbeaten streak to 11 games (9-0-2) against conference opponents dating to their NEC Championship Game shootout loss to neighborhood rival LIU Brooklyn in 2015.

SFC will try to continue its NEC domination when it visits Central Connecticut State on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. before returning to Downtown Brooklyn Sunday for a 1 p.m. Senior Day match against Bryant University at BPP.

Following those two tilts, the Terriers will once again square off with the lone team that has interrupted their run of NEC titles as LIU Brooklyn will host SFC on Nov. 3 in the regular-season finale for both teams before the upcoming NEC Tournament.

“We know [LIU is] always the last game and it’s going to have some kind of meaning,” Giovatto admitted.

“But it’s way too early to start looking at that. Friday is the key for us. We need to get a result, it’s a tough one on the road.”

The Blackbirds (4-7-2, 3-1-0) were actually a half-game ahead of the Terriers in the NEC standings and riding a season-high three-game winning streak before suffering their first conference loss of the year, 1-0 to visiting RMU on Senior Day Sunday.

Despite holding a 21-12 advantage in shots on goal, the Blackbirds fell behind when the Colonials’ Bayley Winkel got a shot past freshman netminder Anthony Sciola in the 64th minute.

The Blackbirds will host Bryant on Saturday at LIU Field.

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Another local college soccer squad will kick off its postseason on Wednesday when the Bulldogs of Brooklyn College will host Hunter College at Brooklyn College Field in the opening round of the CUNYAC Championships.

Senior midfielder Jordy Ortiz netted a hat trick in Monday’s 9-2 rout of Albertus Magnus College as the Bulldogs capped off a strong regular season with an 8-7-2 mark, including 6-2 against league opponents.

Senior Jean-Luc Saint-Fleur also scored in the regular season finale, helping BC earn the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament.

The winner of Wednesday’s quarterfinal match will earn the right to square off against No. 2 John Jay in Saturday’s semifinals.

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Also of note on the Downtown college scene, reigning NEC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year Jerome Frink of the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds was selected by the South Bay Lakers of the NBA’s G-League in their annual draft.

Frink, who also received AP All-America Honorable Mention during his senior year with the Blackbirds, averaged 17.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game last season while posting 13 double-doubles.

He will be mentored on the Lakers’ squad by NBA champion forward Metta World Peace, previously known as Ron Artest, who has been named the team’s player development coach.