With a win, Dr. Dave Masur can clinch a Big East tournament berth and the Red Storm a spot in the conference tournament. (Photo courtesy of St. John’s Communications Dept.)
QUEENS, N.Y. – So much is at stake for the St. John’s University men Saturday, including a berth in the Big East tournament and a major personal coaching milestone.
With two games remaining in the regular season, the Red Storm will welcome its highest ranked opponent of the year to Belson Stadium, playing host to No. 10 Georgetown at 7 p.m.
Saturday night’s contest will be critical for St. John’s (7-6-2, 4-2-1) as only one point in either of the team’s final two matches will secure a berth to the conference tournament for the Johnnies. While the Hoyas are one of two teams in the conference alongside Butler University to have locked up a spot in the upcoming six-team tournament, the top two seeds in the field are still up for grabs. The teams that finish first and second in the final regular season standings receive a bye to the semifinalsNov. 8, while the three seed will host the six seed and the four seed will welcome the five seed Nov. 4.
The Red Storm’s 4-2-1 mark in Big East play is the team’s best through seven conference games since the College Cup season of 2008, when the Johnnies went 5-1-1 en route to a conference regular season title and a 19-3-3 overall record.
With 399 career victories entering the weekend, a win over the Hoyas would make Red Storm head coach Dr. Dave Masur one of seven active head coaches and one of 19 Division I coaches all-time to reach the 400-win plateau.
The game also will serve as the program’s annual Senior Night, as the Red Storm will recognize the contributions of eight St. John’s student athletes in their final year with the squad.
St. John’s enters the weekend following a thrilling come-from-behind victory over Villanova University at Belson Stadium Wednesday night.
After falling behind in the third minute on a penalty kicl, the Red Storm knotted the game in the 69th minute before finding the back of the net again in the second minute of the second extratime. Both of the Johnnies’ tallies came from Filippo Ricupati, who registered his third career multi-goal game and tied for the team lead with his third and fourth markers of the season.
St. John’s and Georgetown have met 32 times since their series began in 1985 with the Johnnies holding a 21-8-3 advantage all-time in the those matches.
The highest ranked team in the Big East, the Hoyas have been a mainstay in the national polls for the entire season. With a record of 11-2-2 and a 5-1-1 mark in Big East action, Georgetown boasts four wins over ranked opponents, including a 1-0 road victory over then-No. 3 Maryland Oct. 17. The match will pit the top two defenses in the league against each other, as junior goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski has led the Hoyas to a 0.58 team goals-against average, good enough for 11th in the nation.
The game will be broadcast live on the Big East Digital Network with Ralph Bednarczyk on the call from Belson Stadium.
