Jaspers fall 2-1 at St. John's - Manhattan University Athletics

Jamaica, N.Y. — The Jaspers worked hard to tie the score at 1-1 in the 55th minute on a header from Ziv Dahan before Miguel Diaz found the back of the net two minutes later to seal a 2-1 win for St. John's. In the 21st minute, the highly contested battle took a turn in St. John's favor when Manhattan was called for a handball in the box after a VAR review. St. John's Macoumba Ba converted on the ensuing penalty kick to put Manhattan behind the eight ball early.

Both teams entered the game looking for their first win of the season which contributed to the fast pace and grueling physicality of the meeting. Manhattan had their own pep in their step thanks to the return of former MAAC Defender of the Year Nassim Akki who has healed from injury. Akki partnered with his fellow countryman Malo Blondeau to provide some much-needed stability in front of junior goalkeeper Ludvig Malberg.

The St. John's speed up front and down the wings posed challenges at times, and the Jaspers were caught in a bad spot on Miguel Diaz's go-ahead goal in the 57th minute which allowed St. John's to sit back the rest of the way. The Jaspers were outshot 9-6 in the game, but were still a play or two away from walking away with a draw at minimum.

Dahan's return to the line-up and first goal of his Manhattan career was a feel good story for Manhattan. But as the game wore on and the challenge of overcoming St. John's grew, the fatigue began to set in for a Manhattan team that had patiently waited for the return of some of their keys players who were back in the line-up on Thursday.

Foul-a-thon

Manhattan was whistled for 19 fouls while St. John was called back for 23 transgressions. Ensa Sanneh, Ronan O'Brien, and John Bernardi were each issued yellow cards for Manhattan while Ba picked up a yellow card for the Red Storm.

Malberg at Manhattan

Malberg returned to his Big East roots on Thursday night with the Marquette transfer recording two saves in net versus St. John's. He looked comfortable the whole way through and was particularly useful in making reads on high balls in the box. St. John's fired off 8 corner kicks on Thursday night which further added to the pressure that Malberg and the Jaspers faced.

Next Time Out

Manhattan will stay in the Big East circuit when they battle #25 Seton Hall (2-0-0) on Sunday in West Orange. The Pirates beat Albany 2-1 at home on Thursday, and Manhattan and Albany will now switch places as the Great Danes go to Queens on Sunday and the Jaspers will make the trip to Jersey. Manhattan vs. Seton Hall will be streamed live at 1 p.m. on FloFC.