BROOKVILLE, N.Y. — Ben Assane Fall and the LIU men's soccer team rebounded in resounding fashion.
Fall produced two goals and two assists as the Sharks defeated Stonehill, 4-0, on Sunday afternoon in an SNY-televised game at LIU Soccer Park.
Goalkeeper
Jonathan Villacis notched his first NCAA shutout.
Villacis started the game after teammate
Eoin Gawronski picked up a red card during Thursday's match at Saint Francis U, when the Sharks were handed their first NEC defeat.
Sunday's scoring output and margin of victory matched a 4-0 win against VMI on Sept. 4 for the largest this season.
It marked the second career two-goal game for Fall and his career-high point total. He also had a pair of goals in a 5-1 win at Mount St. Mary's on Oct. 31, 2021. He had produced two-assist games on three previous occasions.
The last six-point performance by a Shark came from
Emil Jaaskelainen on Oct. 10, 2021 against Howard, with a three-goal game.
On Sunday, LIU erupted for three first-half goals against the Skyhawks en route to improving to 3-1-2 in conference play.
Fall opened the scoring in the eighth minute.
Joshua Saavedra, the NEC Rookie of the Week each of the past two weeks, then scored on a header in the 17th minute. And Jaaskelainen scored in the 23rd minute.
Fall, whose quickness Stonehill could not contain, added a second goal in the 61st minute.
Saavedra had a pair of assists in addition to his goal.
Saïdou Diallo also had two assists.
Villacis, a Nassau Community College transfer, notched the second assist on Fall's second goal.
Villacis had entered for Gawronski after a red card at Saint Francis U on Thursday to face a penalty kick, which Villacis saved.
The Sharks next host Le Moyne next Sunday at 1 p.m. at LIU Soccer Park. The game also will be televised on SNY.