Patchogue, NY | The Dolphins used two early goals in the first half and one in the second to lift Staten Island to their first victory of the season against St. Joseph’s College – LI. The win improves the men’s soccer team to 1-0 to start the season and knocked St. Joseph’s – LI down to, 0-1.

The Dolphins wasted no time finding their way onto the scoresheet after threatening several times early on.  Carlos Montesinos notched the first goal of the season for the Dolphins when he received a through ball from Philip Lefkowitz which gave him a one-on-one chance with the keeper.  Montesinos would make no mistake and tuck it under Tyler Flaherty for the early goal. 

Just over a minute later the Dolphins would strike again. This time Lefkowitz was the one knocking it into the back of the net when there was a breakdown on the defensive line which allowed him to lace it through Flaherty’s legs. Flaherty was under pressure from the Dolphins’ attack all game and was forced to make 11 saves on the day. 

Freshman goalkeeper, Christian Carucci got the start in between the sticks this afternoon and was only called upon four times to make a save.  Lefkowitz nearly tallied a brace when he saw his shot careen off of the woodwork. 

The Dolphins’ leading goal-scorer from last season, Bryant Navarro headed his way onto the scoreboard when Macki Dougoune crossed the ball into the box and onto Navarro’s head.  Navarro powered a header past Flaherty in the 69th minute to put the game out of reach of the Golden Eagles. St. Joseph’s – LI struggled all afternoon offensively as the Dolphins’ defense suffocated their offense. However, the Golden Eagles finally cracked the code in the 80th minute when Rayneri Ruiz hit a cracker of a shot into the low right corner of the goal, preventing his team from being shutout. 

CSI would threaten three more times but saw all of their attempts miss the mark. When the final whistle blew the Dolphins had recorded 25 shots putting 14 on target while holding their opponents to just five shots all game. 

Staten Island will return to action on Monday, September 3 for their home opener against St. Joseph’s College – BK for yet another non-conference game at the CSI Soccer Complex, 12:00 pm.