SFC Brooklyn’s James keeping his net clean

Terriers' freshman goalkeeper carries scoreless streak into weekend

September 12, 2019 JT Torenli

St. Francis Brooklyn freshman goalie Callum James has yet to surrender a goal through his first three games, logging 290 scoreless minutes while picking up a Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week award. Photo courtesy of SFC Brooklyn Athletics

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You just can’t sneak anything past St. Francis Brooklyn goalkeeper Callum James.

At least no one has yet.

The 6-foot-2 freshman netminder from Wales will carry a stunning career-opening 290-minute scoreless streak into the undefeated Terriers’ match at Saint Peter’s College Saturday afternoon in Jersey City, N.J.

James, who attended the Cwmtawe Community School in Swansea before packing his bags for Downtown Brooklyn, is coming off a 110-minute, double-overtime blanking of Lafayette last Saturday at Brooklyn Bridge Park as the Terriers and Leopards played to a scoreless draw.

SFC Brooklyn, which won four of five Northeast Conference championships before failing to reach the NEC Tournament last year, may be right back in the thick of title contention again after a solid 2-0-1 start to this campaign.

And James, who was named NEC Rookie of the Week after leading the Terriers to back-to-back shutout wins to open the year, has been at the forefront of SFC’s early-season success.

“Callum has improved every game,” Terriers head coach Tom Giovatto told the Brooklyn Eagle earlier this week as his team prepared for its first road contest after a near-perfect start at BPP.

“He’s doing a great job organizing his back line,” Giovatto added. “He is gaining confidence in every game and his teammates have a lot of confidence in him.”

As they should.

James kicked off his collegiate career in net by blanking Stony Brook here on Aug. 30 and added a 3-0 whitewashing of LaSalle on Sep. 3 before his career-high six-save effort against Lafayette on Saturday.

The 6-foot-2, 182-pound first-year sensation has made 12 saves in all through three games, a trend he hopes to continue as the Terriers look to reclaim the NEC throne this year.

Saturday’s match against the Leopards marked the first time SFC played to a scoreless draw since Oct. 13, 2017 against Sacred Heart.

The Terriers yielded a season-high 15 shots in the contest, but none could get past James, who is already earning plenty of plaudits from SFC goaltending coach Jason Orban.

“Callum pushes his standard in training each day. He’s adapted well to the demands of college soccer and he’s grown in stature each match,” Orban said of his rookie netminder.

“Each match, he’s gone from strength to strength, improving his range of what he can save and claim off his line. We’re sure his humility and growth mindset will continue to serve him well.”

The Terriers’ first-year women’s squad, spearheaded by program founder Justine Lombardi, is still seeking its first win ever after suffering a 3-0 loss at Albany on Tuesday night.

SFC, which has yet to score a goal during its 0-5 start to this inaugural campaign, hasn’t been a walkover in any of the matches.

The Terriers’ three-goal loss to the Great Danes was their worst of the young season, and followed a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat to Manhattan College in Riverdale, N.Y., last Friday.

Junior goaltender Maggie Boston has kept the Terriers in virtually every contest thus far despite facing a high volume of shots. She made seven saves against Albany.

SFC will get its next shot at its first win Sunday afternoon at Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Jarrett Allen and the Brooklyn Nets will battle it out with the defending NBA champion Toronto Raptors in their preseason finale Oct. 18 at Downtown’s Barclays Center after the game was originally scheduled to be played at NYCB Live on Long Island. AP Photo by Mary Altaffer

In local pro sports news, the Brooklyn Nets announced this week that their final preseason game of the upcoming season on Oct. 18, originally scheduled to be played at NYCB Live in Uniondale, N.Y., has been shifted to Downtown’s Barclays Center.

The Nets will host the defending NBA champion Toronto Raptors in that contest at the corner of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues.

Tickets to the game officially went on sale at 10 a.m. Thursday morning and can be purchased via brooklynnets.com and ticketmaster.com.

Brooklyn will also open the preseason at Barclays Center on Friday, Oct. 4, against SESI/Franca Basketball Club of Brazil.

The Nets will then travel to China for the NBA China Games, with a pair of contests against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers scheduled for Oct. 10 in Shanghai and Oct. 12 in Shenzhen.