QUEENS, N.Y. – University of Connecticut senior midfielder Adria Beso Marco (Lleida, Spain) tallied his second goal of the season in a losing effort for UConn, which fell to former conference rival St. John’s, 3-1, on the road Tuesday night. With the loss, the Huskies drops to 2-4-1 on the season, while the Red Storm improve to 2-3-3.

Both teams opened the match quickly, scoring a combined three goals in the first 11 minutes. After St. John’s midfielder Mohamed Awah opened the scoring in the 3^rd minute, Beso Marco evened the match with a fantastic strike less than three minutes later. An error by the Red Storm midfield left Beso Marco with the ball on the counter attack, and the UConn captain raced towards the attacking third, where he ripped a shot from the top left corner of the box past St. John’s goalkeeper Jordan Stagmiller. The goal was his second in the last three matches.

The Red Storm would fight back, as St. John’s tallied two more first half goals, starting in the 11th minute when defender Marco Bordon scored off a rebound in the box to allow St. John’s to regain the lead.

UConn’s former Big East foe pushed its lead to 3-1 in the 38^th minute following the Red Storm’s first corner kick of the game. The ball in eventually found Simon Tchoukriel deep in the box, and the St. John’s defender knocked in his first goal of the year to further the Red Storm’s advantage. The three first half goals by St. John’s marked a season-high for a Connecticut opponent.

The Huskies, who didn’t allow a shot in the second half, saw several chances to cut into the St. John’s lead in the final 45 minutes. In the 61^st minute, sophomore defender Jakob Nerwinski’s (Lawrenceville, N.J.) deflected cross attempt found freshman Cheikh Stephane Coly in the box, and the Connecticut midfielder headed a ball on net that was saved by Stagmiller.

Sophomore forward Cyle Larin (Brampton, Ontario) had two great looks at goal in the second period, both of which came in the box. In the 68^th minute, freshman left back Dylan Greenberg (Dix Hills, N.Y.) relayed the ball to the Connecticut striker in the box, and Larin gathered the pass with his chest before rifling a shot that missed wide right. Less than 10 minutes later, Beso Marco volleyed a great pass into Larin, who was able to get a shot on under duress from multiple St. John’s defenders. His chip shot was met by Stagmiller, who positioned himself perfectly on the scoring attack.

Redshirt junior goalkeeper Jacob Wagmeister made three saves in the loss, while Connecticut outshot the Red Storm, 15-7, for the match. UConn is back in action this Saturday in the team’s conference opener against South Florida at home at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium. The match, which kicks off at 7 p.m., features a rematch of last season’s inaugural American Athletic Men’s Soccer Championship.

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