Dave Masur became the 19th NCAA soccer coach to reach 400 career wins. (Photo courtesy of St. John’s Communications Dept.)
QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John’s University men reached two milestone Saturday night, one minor, the other major.
The Red Storm recorded a 1-0 victory over No. 10 Georgetown University to clinch a spot in the Big East Championship. David Enstrom’s header in the 31st minute proved to be the difference.
Thanks to the win, head coach Dr. Dave Masur joined one of the most exclusive clubs in all of college sports, becoming just the seventh active head coach and the 19th Division I coach all-time to reach the 400-win plateau.
“You don’t have much time to really think about it,” said Masur on his milestone. “I think my job is to coach the team to win every game. So that’s my focus and that’s what I want to do every time I coach. I’m happy it happened on a day like today against Georgetown in such an important game and I’m glad the team really came through.”
The victory pulled the Red Storm (8-6-2, 5-2-1) into a tie with the Hoyas (11-3-2, 5-2-1) for second place in the standings. By virtue of their win this evening, the Johnnies also hold the first tie-breaker with Georgetown and could secure at least the no. 2 seed in the conference championship with a win over Providence on Wednesday night.
The Red Storm’s win marked its first against a top-10 opponent in four years, as the 2013 squad topped the then-No. 5 Hoyas, 1-0, at Belson Stadium despite playing the second half with only 10 men. Since 2013, the last five meetings between the Red Storm and the Hoyas have all been 1-0 decisions.
Enstrom scored his first goal as a Red Storm, heading a ball home with just under 15 minutes to go in the first half. Alistair Johnston and Harry Cooksley picked up assists, bumping their team-leading point totals to 11 apiece.
Goalkeeper Andrew Withers earned his seventh shutout, stopping both of the Hoyas’ tries on target.
St. John’s will close out regular season, traveling to Providence College Wednesday at 7 p.m.
