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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
St. John's
Players Mentioned
Sanner Scores Game Winner in 87th as Men's Soccer Tops St. John's
September 05, 2015 | Men's Soccer
Box Score l Game Replay on WatchESPN
QUEENS, N.Y. (9/4/15) - Senior Thomas Sanner scored the game-winning goal in the 87th minute to lift the Princeton men's soccer team to a 2-1 win over St. John's in the season opener on Friday, Sept. 4.
The goal came off of a corner kick by senior Nico Hurtado that deflected off a Red Storm defender before Sanner got foot on it and put it away. The Tigers earned the corner when co-captain Brendan McSherry tested Red Storm keeper Jordan Stagmiller from long range and he popped it over the crossbar with his glove.
Down 1-0, Princeton came out in the second half battling hard for the equalizer.
Freshman Jeremy Colvin had the first opportunity when he deked his defender but couldn't get by Stagmiller as he gobbled up the ball on the ground. Sophomore Daniel Bowkett had a couple of shots of goal, and junior Greg Seifert hit the cross bar as the Tigers continued to threaten.
Sophomore Nicholas Badalamenti broke through in the 71st minute with his first career goal. He had been on the pitch for about five minutes before he found the back of the net. Junior Mark Romanowski and Colvin earned assists on the goal.
St. John's Dela Agbotse scored in the 41st from Filippo Ricupati. Ricupati was to the left side of the 18-yard box and played it in for Agbotse who went high over senior goalkeeper Ben Hummel.
Hummel made two saves in the win. Both came in the first 15 minutes of the game, his best being in the 15th minute when he came out to kick away a shot by Mike Prusik.
Stagmiller made five saves in his first game of the season, as St. John's falls to 0-3 in its first loss to Princeton since 1995.
Princeton won the corner kick battle 5-1 and was not called offsides once, while St. John's was called three times.
The Tigers will head South next week to face two opponents in Florida. On Thursday, Sept. 10 Princeton will face FGCU, and will play FIU on Saturday, Sept. 12. Both games are at 7 p.m.