St. Francis Brooklyn Blanks Saint Francis U.

October 22, 2017

St. Francis Brooklyn junior forward Ali Tounkara scored a spectacular goal in the 76^th minute to give the host Terriers a, 1-0, Northeast Conference victory against the Saint Francis U. Red Flash on Sunday afternoon at Brooklyn Bridge Park. The Terriers improved to 9-4-1 and remained unbeaten in the conference at 3-0-1.

Freshman Chris Chris Gruver, who also had an assist in Friday’s win against Robert Morris, came off the bench to set-up the lone tally of the contest. The forward beat a couple of defenders on the right-side and sent a perfect cross to Tounkara, who was free inside the box. The Aulnay, France native was then able to surprise Red Flash keeper Marcus Rojas with a crafty back-heel, no-look shot to the lower right-corner of the net.

Neither team had many scoring chances in the opening half, however, junior midfielder Sami Gliguem nearly came through with 18:49 left as his attempt from point-blank range sailed just over the center of the crossbar.

The Terriers completely dominated the second-half and had several outstanding chances to gain the lead. Their best, prior to Tounkara’s goal, was a sequence with just over forty minutes to play following a corner-kick by senior midfielder Federico Curbello. Gliguem eventually collected a loose ball and fired a shot on target but it was blocked by a Red Flash defender.

St. Francis Brooklyn goalkeeper Roberto Bazzichetto was asked to make just three saves as the Terrier defense was as strong as usual.

The hosts fired 12 shots compared to just five by the visitors and owned a 6-1 advantage on corner-kicks opportunities.

The game was a physical one as the two squads combined for over 30 fouls and the visitors were handed four yellow cards. The Terriers did not draw a single card on the afternoon.

Saint Francis U. dropped to 8-8-0 and just 1-4-0 in the league.

St. Francis Brooklyn will travel to Central Connecticut State on Friday afternoon before returning home for Senior Day next Sunday versus Bryant.