TEANECK, N.J. – Junior midfielder Julian Ribak's first hat trick of his collegiate career propelled the Yeshiva University men's soccer team to an impressive Skyline Conference win over St. Joseph's College Brooklyn, 4-0, at University Stadium on Tuesday evening. The Maccabees scored one goal in the first half, and added three more in the second, to clinch the win.
 
"I'm very proud of the team," Yeshiva University head coach Josh Pransky said. "Individually, every man did his job and that allowed us to play well as a team."
 
Yeshiva (5-6, 1-5 Skyline) struck quickly in the match as Ribak gathered the ball from a feed by sophomore midfielder Ilan Slonim and launched it into the back of the net, to give YU a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the match.
 
Just like in the opening half, Yeshiva scored quickly in the second. Junior defender Joseph Grobman passed the ball through a sea of defenders to freshman midfielder Alberto Benhamu, who rifled the ball just under the cross bar and into the back of the cage, to extend the home team's lead to 2-0.
 
In the 72^nd minute, Ribak received a through pass from junior midfielder Dan Cohen and went speeding past St. Joseph's Brooklyn's goalkeeper. With no one in front to stop him, he easily poked the ball into the wide-open net to increase Yeshiva's lead to 3-0.
 
Ribak struck again just over a minute later, as Benhamu's shot went off the right post and right to Ribak, who drilled the ball into the right corner of the net to complete the hat trick and extend the Maccabees' lead to 4-0. That would be the final score.
 
For the evening, Yeshiva had the edge in shots, 20-9. The Bears (1-12-1, 0-7-0 Skyline) had the advantage in corner kicks, 11-5. Sophomore goalkeeper Max Goldstein made six saves to earn his third shutout victory of the season.
 
Yeshiva will be back in action on Friday for a Skyline match against Purchase College at Votee Park, beginning at 1:00 p.m.