By Dylan Butler

PISCATAWAY, N.J.--- It was their first test since being ranked No. 1 in the country for the first time ever during the regular season and St. John's passed with flying colors, defeating Old Dominion, 4-0 in the opener of the Rutgers Philips/Adidas Classic at Yurcak Field Friday night.

Red Storm players knew that while it's an honor to be ranked No. 1, it is also difficult because now more than ever every opponent is looking for a win over the top team in the country to put on their resume.

"In the huddle we did talk about how we couldn't go down because we are No. 1 and we had to show people that we deserved to be and why we are [No. 1]," said St. John's senior Rich Bradley, who had a goal and an assist. "But we still played the same way, everyone on the field did what they needed to do to win."

It looked as if Old Dominion (4-3) was going to be able to escape the first half scoreless until Chris Corcoran found the back of the net with 45 seconds left in the half. Matia Damiani flicked Chris Leidner's throw-in to Corcoran, whose looping shot from 16 yards out beat ODU keeper Samuel Cameron, who came off his line.

Giving up the late goal, as well as losing starters Michael Tooley (leg spasms) and especially midfielder Kevon Harris (knee injury) during the first half really seemed to deflate a Monarchs team without much depth.

"[Harris] is the player who holds the ball and we have rhythm based on his play and we lost rhythm when we lost him," said Old Dominion coach Alan Dawson. "Once we start going beyond the second or third sub it's difficult for us to match up and that's the bottom line."

St. John's (8-1-1) capitalized early and often in the second half, as Angel Rodriguez and Simone Salinno scored a little over two minutes part to give the Red Storm a 3-0 lead with 37 minutes left in the game.

"The two defenders kind of messed up in the back and the rebound just came to me and I saw the lower corner and that's exactly where I put it," Rodriguez said of his third goal of the year.

 

Bradley capped the scoring for the Red Storm in the 65th minute when he followed Rodriguez's saved shot and slotted it into the open net from 15 yards out.

"It was just a ball put over the top and it was a good save by the goalie on Angel, he read it well, and it just popped out to me," Bradley said of his third goal of the year. "There wasn't much I had to do."

Having four different goal scorers Friday night was indicative of the kind of season St. John's has had to this point. After relying on graduated seniors Shalrie Joseph and Jeff Matteo to score big goals last year, the Red Storm has received scoring from a variety of different players. Four players lead the team with three goals apiece while a total of eight have found the back of the net.

"All year we've had some good dangerous attacking but it was the best results we've got all year. The ball found the back of the net, whether it was Simone who scored one goal and created another, whether it was Richie who followed up on Angel," said St. John's coach Dave Masur. "But it was really just about us putting in some dangerous service and getting into good spots in forward positions that created that."

The lopsided match allowed Masur the luxury of resting some of his starters, including College Soccer News National Player of the Week Billy Gaudette, who made two saves in 81 minutes. Nate Tickner, a senior transfer from the University of Minnesota, saw his second action of the year. He didn't make a save in the final 9:29 to earn his second shared shutout of the year.

"It's a wonderful feeling to have some of those guys up front," said Gaudette, who notched his seventh shutout of the year. "We just have some magnificent players who can just do great things with the ball when they score."

Next up for the Red Storm is a dangerous UCLA team Sunday at 1 p.m. who would like nothing better than to return to Southern California with a victory over the No. 1 team in the country after tying Rutgers 1-1 Friday night.

"It's going to be another great game," Bradley said. "I can't wait to play against them on Sunday afternoon. It's going to be fun. It'll be a tough game, they're a great team."