BROOKLYN, NY - The Medgar Evers College men's soccer team hosted St. Joseph's College - Brooklyn at Kingsborough Community College on Wednesday, September 11.

The Cougars (1-3) ran away with a 3-0 victory over the Bears (1-5). Last season, Medgar fell to the Bears by a 5-2 margin, and the year before SJC won this fixture 2-1.

This was also the team's first shutout since October 14, 2017, when the Cougars defeated CUNYAC foes York 4-0.

The early action was promising for both sides, but Medgar's aggressive pressing game was causing problems for the Bear backline. Adeyemi Adeniyi thought he had scored in the 20th minute but he was judged to be offsides. However, just two minutes later, Jonathan Sawadogo stole the ball from a defender and passed to Adeniyi, who dribbled around the keeper and calmly finished to give Medgar the lead.

Five minutes later, Sawadogo was on the receiving end of an Abdul Conteh pass after Conteh stole the ball from a defender and combined on a give-and-go with Adeniyi. Sawadogo put a sliding finish past the keeper and made the score 2-0.

SJC created chances throughout the rest of the first half but so did Medgar Evers, yet the score remained 2-0 at halftime.

"We should have had five or six goals in the first half," remarked Head Coach Jack Thelusma.

At the start of the second half, there were some near misses, with Carl-Henry Obeissant saving a few potential Bear goals, while Ayodeyi Ibikunle narrowly missed scoring himself. Finally, Sawadogo and Hassane Niampa stormed down the length of the pitch on a counterattack, with Niampa finishing into an empty net off a rebound of Sawadogo's shot.

The Cougars stayed in control for the rest of the match and maintained the three-goal margin, despite recording 15 shots to St. Joseph's 20.

Obeissant finished with eight saves and his first shutout of the young season, while Adeniyi finished with a team-best five shots and four shots on target. 

"The team performed very well. Everyone contributed to this victory," added Thelusma. "With determination, commitment, discipline, and hard work, anything is possible."

The Cougars return to action on Saturday, September 14, for a road matchup against New Jersey City University at 1 pm.