Rhode Island (1-0)
Starters: Rodriguez (GK), Clarke-Tosczak, De Castro, Sanchis, Bermingham, Montoro, Walker, Gryczewski, Mwamba, Harris, Huhnholz
Substitutes: Namusse, Oystese, Taylor, Lykkegaard, Schwab, Etxegarai
St. John's (0-1)
Starters: McLachlan (GK), Biggs, Nikolajewski, Jakopovic, Danquah, Ba, Gould, Kozak, Boumsong, Diaz, Kpay
Substitutes: Lamalle, Broad, Haupe, Morck, Geho, Levin, Grriffith
Scoring Summary
26:14 - URI -
Joan Sanchis (
Keegan Walker,
Patrick Gryczewski)
89:55 - URI -
Lucas Lykkegaard (Íñigo Etxegarai)
How it Happened
Joan Sanchis and
Lucas Lykkegaard each scored in their Rhode Island debut to spark the Rams to a 2-0 shutout of St. John's in the season opener for both sides.
In the 27th minute,
Patrick Gryczewski sent a corner kick across the box, and
Keegan Walker headed the ball to Sanchis. He corralled the ball and fired a shot to the left of St. John's keeper Alec McLachlan for the first tally of the season.
Rhody keeper
Edu Rodriguez made several stops – seven for the match – to maintain the lead. Rhody put the icing on the cake when
Íñigo Etxegarai created a turnover at midfield and sent a long pass ahead of the field to Lykkegaard, who calmly slipped the ball to the back of the net with four seconds to go in regulation.
Inside the Box Score
- Dating back to last season, Rhode Island has recorded four consecutive shutouts. The Rams ended 2023 with back-to-back scoreless games against Brown and Loyola Chicago before beating Davidson 2-0 in the season finale.
- Joan Sanchis, Keegan Walker, Theo Harris and Tim Huhnholz started in their collegiate debuts.
- Green Bay transfer Keegan Walker earned the start in his first game as a Ram.
- Both Sanchis (goal) and Walker (assist) tallied points in their URI premieres.
- Lucas Lykkegaard scored his first career goal.
- Íñigo Etxegarai tallied his second career assist.
- Edu Rodriguez made seven stops in the shutout.
- Rhode Island's offensive pressure was well-balanced, as six different players recorded at least one shot. As a team, the Rams put five on-frame.
- St. John's finished the night with a 12-7 advantage in shots.
- This was the Rams' first season-opening win since 2018. That year, URI defeated Boston University 2-0 to kick off a 15-5 campaign that culminated in the team winning the Atlantic 10 Championship.
Up Next
The Rams will continue their season-opening home swing with a 7 p.m. game against Quinnipiac on Monday, Aug. 26.