QUEENS, N.Y. – St. John’s University men’s head coach Dr. Dave Masur Thursday released his team’s schedule for the fall campaign.

The slate, which consists of a traditional 17-game format, will feature 10 games at Belson Stadium.

Five of the Red Storm’s opponents reached the NCAA Division I Tournament in May and finished the season ranked in the United Soccer Coaches poll, including three in the top 10 and four in the top 15.

The Johnnies will play three reseason matches. They will take on Rutgers University in Piscataway, N.J. Friday, Aug. 13, before welcoming Long Island University to Belson Stadium three days later on Aug. 16. The Red Storm will wrap preseason play on Friday, Aug. 20, when it travels to Philadelphia for a final tune-up against Temple University.

The Red Storm will begin the regular season on Thursday, Aug. 26, at Atlantic Coast Conference power Clemson University, which claimed the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament before falling in the third round to eventual national champion Marshall University. The Tigers, who went 14-3-3 during the 2020-21 academic year, finished seventh in the final coaches poll. This year’s match will be the first meeting between the two former national champions. Clemson took home the hardware in 1984 and 1987, a decade before Masur led the Red Storm to the 1996 national crown.

St. John’s will return to Queens for five home matches over two weeks to close the pre-conference portion of its schedule. The Johnnies will face UAlbany for the first meeting in the history of the two programs Monday, Aug. 30, before hosting Marist College Saturday, Sept. 4. The Red Storm will welcome Marist, which did not play against outside competition this spring, to Belson Stadium for the first time since 2006.

Next up for the Red Storm is Fordham University, as the Johnnies will host the Rams on Labor Day. Under the direction of head coach Carlo Acquista, a member of the Red Storm’s 1996 national championship squad, the Rams went 7-1-2 in the spring with their lone loss coming to eventual national champion Marshall in extratime during the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

St. John’s then will welcome Boston University Sept. 10 before a Monday meeting with longtime New York City rival Columbia University Sept. 13. The Terriers went 1-2-1 in limited action this spring while Columbia, along with the rest of the Ivy League, did not compete. The Red Storm and the Lions last met in 2019, a 5-1 road win for the Johnnies.

The following weekend, the Red Storm will begin Big East play by traveling to Cincinnati for a Sept. 18 match against Xavier University. This spring, St. John’s did not play against any of the five Big East schools that comprised the Midwest Division: Butler University, Creighton University, DePaul University, Marquette University or Xavier.

Six days later, the Red Storm will take on another Midwest Division foe, welcoming Creighton to Belson Stadium for a Friday night game. Long before the Bluejays joined the Big East in 2013, the two programs shared a series history that featured three December NCAA Tournament matches. St. John’s defeated Creighton in the 1996 NCAA Semifinals en route to a national title. The Bluejays then knocked out the Red Storm in 2002 before the Johnnies returned the favor in the 2003 NCAA quarterfinals, securing the program’s third appearance in the College Cup.

The Red Storm will play its final non-conference match Sept. 28 when it travels to Princeton for a Tuesday night showdown with the Tigers. Prior to 2019, St. John’s had met Princeton in eight consecutive seasons and nine of the previous 10. The Johnnies will look to avenge consecutive 1-0 shutouts at the hands of the Tigers in their last two meetings in 2017 and 2018.

The Johnnies will begin October with a road contest at the University of Connecticut, traveling to Storrs on Saturday, Oct. 2, against their longtime Big East rival. This spring, the Red Storm swept a pair of decisions from the Huskies, who rejoined the league in July of 2020 after a seven-year stint in the American Athletic Conference.

After snapping a nine-game winless streak against the Friars this spring, the Red Storm will welcome Providence College to Belson Stadium for a midweek showdown Wednesday, Oct. 6.

Following another weekend road match at Villanova University Saturday, Oct. 9, the Red Storm will look to enact a bit of revenge on Seton Hall University when the two longtime local rivals meet at Belson Stadium a week later on Oct. 16. This spring, the shorthanded Johnnies dropped a 1-0 decision in South Orange before coughing up a two-goal lead in Queens to a Pirates squad that won the Big East Championship and reached the NCAA quarterfinals.

Four days later, the Red Storm will face another squad that reached the NCAA 1uarterfinals when it visits Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. The Hoyas, who won the 2019 national championship, went undefeated during regular season play this spring, including a pair of 1-0 victories over the Red Storm.

The Red Storm will host its third consecutive opponent that reached the NCAA Tournament when it welcomes Marquette on Oct. 23. The Golden Eagles finished the season ranked 14th in the United Soccer Coaches poll after going 8-3-2 and advancing to the NCAA Tournament Round of 16.

St. John’s will play its final regular season road game against DePaul University on Oct. 30 before welcoming Butler on Nov. 3 for its regular season finale.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.