Dr. Dave Masur and his team will try to prove Big East coaches wrong. (Photo courtesy of St. John’s SID)
The St. John’s University men were picked to finish seventh in the Big East in a vote of the league’s coaches.
Last season, the Johnnies were predicted to come in eighth before posting a league record of 5-2-2, good enough for a third-place regular season finish and the program’s best mark in the conference since 2009.
With a roster featuring 25 newcomers, the Red Storm has been enjoying a successful preseason, earning positive results against two nationally ranked opponents. On Friday, the Johnnies played No. 16 Fordham to a scoreless draw before topping No. 19 New Hampshire, 2-1, Monday afternoon. Last season, those two teams combined to win five NCAA Division I Tournament games.
Coached by Dr. Dave Masur, the Red Storm returns eight players from last year’s squad, including three of the team’s top five goals scorers in Jack Shearer, Filippo Ricupati and Matt Forster. Shearer was unanimously selected to the Big East All-Freshman Team.
Defending league champion Georgetown (79 points) was predicted to repeat, garnering seven of the nine available first-place votes. Butler, which advanced to the third round of the 2017 NCAA Division I Tournament, was second with 73 points and three first-place votes. Xavier (60) rounded out the top three while Creighton and Providence tied for fourth with 54 points apiece. Marquette slid into the sixth position with 37 points, four ahead of the Johnnies (33) in seventh. Villanova (31), Seton Hall (20) and DePaul (9) rounded out the poll.
St. John’s will play one more exhibition match before the official start of the campaign, hosting LIU Brooklyn at Belson Stadium Saturday at 8 p.m.
2018 BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Preseason Honors
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Brandon Guhl, Butler, Jr., F
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year
Brendan McDonough, Georgetown, Sr., D
Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year
^ Colin Miller, Providence, RS-Sr., GK
2018 Men’s Soccer Preseason All-BIG EAST #
^ Brandon Guhl, Butler, Jr., F
Derek Dodson, Georgetown, So., F/M
Achara, Georgetown, Jr., F
Luka Prpa, Marquette, Jr., M
Simen Hestnes, Xavier, Sr., M
Danny Griffin, Providence, Jr., M
Joel Rydstrand, Creighton, Sr., M
Jared Timmer, Butler, RS-Jr., M
^ Brendan McDonough, Georgetown, Sr., D
^ Joe Moulden, Butler, Sr., D
Cameron Taylor, Xavier, RS-Sr., D
^ Colin Miller, Providence, RS-Sr., GK
2018 BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches’ Poll
First place votes in ( )
|
1. Georgetown (7) |
79 pts. |
|
2. Butler (3) |
73 |
|
3. Xavier |
60 |
|
T4. Creighton |
54 |
|
T4. Providence |
54 |
|
6. Marquette |
37 |
|
7. St. John’s |
33 |
|
8. Villanova |
31 |
|
9. Seton Hall |
20 |
|
10. DePaul |
9 |
^ – denotes unanimous selection
# there is an extra player on the preseason All-BIG EAST team due to a tie in voting
