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Fireworks, fanfare at SJU for soccer stadium opening

By Dylan Butler

The most anticipated home game in St. John’s soccer history started Saturday night with fireworks during a 30-minute pre-game ceremony to open Belson Stadium and the electricity continued until the final whistle more than two hours later.

Before a sellout crowd of 2,266 watched No. 2 St. John’s battle 10th-ranked Wake Forest to a 1-1 tie Saturday night, Jerome Belson, who donated the $6 million to build the stadium, was honored in pre-game ceremonies with his wife Maxine and son Tad.

Joining them were St. John’s president, the Rev. Donald J. Harrington, and Red Storm men’s soccer coach Dave Masur.

Belson said the idea for the stadium came from a meeting with the 1996 National Championship team in Rome after an audience with Pope John Paul II in 1997.

When Belson’s wife met the players for the first time in Rome, she was upset to see that several players had been injured by playing on the turf at DaSilva Field at St. John’s. She became the catalyst behind the plan for the new field.

“Back then we thought it was a half-million-dollar expenditure. But you should never leave an open checkbook with the president of this university,” Belson joked at half-time. “I’m just delighted we don’t have a dome.”

Harrington, who has attended numerous Red Storm soccer games since the national championship season in 1996, said the experience of watching a game at Belson Stadium was unparalleled.

“There’s no comparison, you’re part of the game,” he said at halftime. “It’s just wonderful. It’s a bigger crowd than I’ve ever seen here.”

The stadium, which has a grandstand with red seat-back chairs and bleacher seating behind each goal, was slated to open three weeks ago. But inclement weather delayed the opening and the men’s soccer team moved three of its home games to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, while the women’s team returned to the artificial turf of DaSilva Memorial Field, which also houses the football, track and field teams.

The crowd certainly seemed to appreciate the new intimate setting for St. John’s soccer. With help from the St. John’s Pep Band, they were boisterous throughout the match.

Among those attending were St. John’s men’s basketball coach Mike Jarvis and his wife Connie as well as members of the 1996 National Championship men’s soccer team.

Harrington said the team, along with Masur, is the reason Belson Stadium stands today.

“Without Dave Masur, this would not have happened. Dave single-handedly built the men’s program,” he said. “I go back to the championship team. That team deserves so much credit. They pulled it off without a good facility, they won the national championship, got the attention of the Belsons, myself and others, and as a result this happened.”

As for the St. John’s players, they couldn’t have been happier with their new home.

“It was an unbelievable atmosphere,” said St. John’s defender Chris Wingert. “I’m so thankful to the Belsons, Father Harrington, to coach (Masur), all the people who put so much time and energy and money into building this beautiful stadium for us. For it to finally be here, after all this talk, all the preparation, it’s just a great feeling.”

Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at [email protected] or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.