Terriers stun MSU on Remsen Street

SFC Brooklyn women post historic win over Spartans

November 24, 2021 John Torenli, Sports Editor

The SFC Brooklyn women's basketball team knocked off Michigan State of the Big Ten Tuesday night on Remsen Street. Photo courtesy of SFC Brooklyn Athletics

Share this:

Khaleah Edwards scored 14 points and Ally Lassen and Jaila Lee each added 13 as the St. Francis Brooklyn women’s basketball team edged visiting Michigan State, 66-63, Tuesday night in front of 213 fans at the Pope Physical Education Center.

Two free throws apiece by Nevena Dimitrijevic and Lee gave the Terriers (2-3) a three-point lead with only 13 seconds remaining as SFC held on to post its first-ever victory against a Big Five conference opponent.

Fruszina Horvath added 11 points for the Terriers, who hadn’t beaten a team affiliated with any major conference since knocking off West Virginia in 1978.

SFC will be back in action Sunday afternoon at Stony Brook.

The LIU women’s squad fell to 0-3 last Thursday night in Newark, N.J., suffering a 59-53 overtime loss to NJIT in front of 309 fans at the Wellness and Events Center.

Erykah Russell scored 12 points and ripped down nine rebounds for the Sharks, who held a 49-46 lead with just over a minute to play when Ellyn Stoll buried a 3-pointer to force the extra session.

Stoll added another shot from beyond the arc and a free throw in overtime as LIU remained winless heading into Wednesday’s showdown with Manhattan College at the Steinberg Wellness Center in Downtown Brooklyn.

Freshman Robert Winkler scored the lone goal for LIU during Sunday’s NCAA College Cup second-round loss in St. Louis. Photo courtesy of LIU Athletics

***

Playing in the NCAA College Cup’s second round for the first time in nearly four decades, the Long Island University men’s soccer team saw its dream season come to an end Sunday in St. Louis, Missouri.

Freshman Robert Winkler scored the lone goal and junior goalkeeper Demetri Skoumbakis made three saves, but the Northeast Conference champion Sharks suffered a 5-1 loss to undefeated St. Louis in front of a record 6,815 fans at Robert R. Hermann Stadium.

The Sharks (12-5-4), who played through two overtimes and a penalty-kick shootout to knock off St. Francis Brooklyn in the NEC Championship on Nov. 14, needed Assane Ben Fall’s goal with just over a minute remaining and five huge saves from Skoumbakis to edge Maryland last Thursday night.

The opening-round 1-0 victory at College Park was LIU’s first since 1982 in NCAA Tournament play and launched the Sharks into the second round encounter vs. St. Louis (15-0-4).

John Klein scored twice in the first 15 minutes and Christian Buendla, Simon Becher and A.J. Palazzolo also tallied for the 10th-seeded Billikens, who moved on to face No. 7 Duke on Saturday in Durham, North Carolina.

Winkler’s goal in the 22nd minute off a free kick gave LIU some hope as the Sharks cut the deficit to 3-1, but Becher and Palazzolo scored in the second half to crush any hope of a Sharks comeback.

Emil Jaaskelainen, who led LIU and most of the nation with 15 goals this season, received a red-card ejection in Sunday’s loss to the Billikens, leaving the Sharks down a man for the most of the second half.

Though they failed to reach the Sweet 16, the LIU Sharks won an NCAA Tournament game for the first time since 1982. Photo courtesy of LIU Athletics

Despite the defeat, LIU more than atoned for last year’s disappointment in the NEC playoffs, where it fell in penalties to SFC at Brooklyn Bridge Park.

With the NEC title game in Brookville, N.Y., earlier this month, the Sharks outlasted the Terriers before stunning the Terps in their College Cup opener.