The College of Staten Island men’s soccer team dropped their fourth straight contest late last night, succumbing to St. Joseph’s College-Patchogue by a 5-2 count in non-conference play in Long Island.  In a hole early, CSI couldn’t climb out, falling to 3-7-1 overall, while the Golden Eagles lifted their overall mark to 8-6.

There was plenty was offense in the first half, as the Eagles nursed a 3-2 lead going into intermission.  SJC never trailed, building a 2-0 after the first 16 minutes of the contest.  Terrence Dzus got the scoring started just 6:41 in, playing a ball in the box off of a CSI defender and smashing in a shot past CSI keeper Ahmed El-Ghareib.  Just under 10 minutes later, John Dettori planted in another unassisted marker, after an El-Ghareib fumble on a played ball inside the box.

The Dolphins had to scratch their way back into the game, and did so the first time via Alfonso Casteneda’s team-leading fifth goal of the year, burying in a 25-yarder, playing the ball off of a defender misplay at 40:28.  Then a frenzy inside of two minutes to play ensued.

With 1:42 to go, Dettori signaled again off of a Dzus pass to make it 3-1, but just 12 seconds later, Casteneda reached back for his second goal, screaming a ball into the top right corner past SJC goalie Chris Muhs to make it 3-2. 

Things settled down in the second half.  Both teams mustered five shots in the second frame, but it was SJC that got the better of play.  First, at 63:17, Dettori completed his natural hat trick, burying home a William Kuhlwilm rebound to make it 4-2.  Forced to press, CSI was the victim of a counterattack as SJC earned a corner kick with just under 16 minutes to play, which yielded another goal to Michael Carroll, leading to the 5-2 final.

SJC finished ahead in shots, 16-10 (11-8 on goal), and a 7-5 edge in corner kicks.  Robert Mancuso made four second half saves for SJC to lock things up, while El-Ghareib made six saves for the visitors.

CSI is 0-3 in October and hasn’t won since a 7-1 outpouring vs. CCNY on September 24.  They next play on Wednesday on the road against Baruch College at 6pm.