St. John's University Athletics
Red Storm Mens Soccer Seeded Fourth in NCAA Tournament
11/18/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
By earned the No. 4 seed, the highest ever for a St. Johns mens soccer team in the NCAA Tournament, the Red Storm will have a first round bye and, should they continue to advance, host games at Belson Stadium until the NCAA Semifinals.
This is a tremendous honor for our program, St. Johns Head Coach Dave Masur said. Were obviously pleased to have a high seed, but this tournament is a challenge and anything can happen.
Wake Forest (14-1-4) earned the top seed in the tournament, followed by Maryland (17-4), UCLA (13-3-3) and St. Johns. BIG EAST regular season and tournament champion Boston College (16-4) was seeded fifth, with Virginia (15-6), Connecticut (15-5) and Virginia Commonwealth (15-4-1) rounding out the top eight teams.
St.. Johns will draw the winner of a match between Northeast Conference champion Fairleigh Dickinson (10-4-7) and Patriot League winner Holy Cross (13-4-1). The Red Storm will host a second round NCAA Tournament match at Belson Stadium on Wednesday, November 27 at 7 p.m.
The Red Storm enter the NCAA Tournament with a 12-2-5 record. After dropping the season opener on August 31 to Boston College, St. Johns was, perhaps, the hottest team in the country, posting a 17-game unbeaten streak and going 12-0-5 in the process.
During that stretch of 17 games, the Red Storm held opponents scoreless for a pair of stretches of at least 450 minutes. The defensive unit has been among the best, posting a school record 13 shutouts and a 0.39 goals against average, which ranks first in the country. They have been led by BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, junior back Chris Wingert (Babylon, N.Y.), a finalist for the Hermann Trophy as the mens national player of the year and an Academic All-American candidate.
Offensively, St. Johns has had a balanced attack, led by second-team All-BIG EAST selection, senior midfielder Rich Bradley (Bayport, N.Y.), who is tied for the team lead in scoring with four goals and seven assists for 15 points, and is also an Academic All-American candidate. Sophomore Chris Corcoran (Marshfield, Mass.) is tied for the team lead in scoring, with six goals and three assists for 15 points.
This is the 11th-straight NCAA Tournament appearance for St. Johns, all under 12th-year head coach Masur. The Red Storm are one of only two programs in the country to advance to the Sweet Sixteen in each of the last six seasons (Indiana), and have reached two Final Fours in the last six years, including winning the NCAA National Championship in 1996.
When St. Johns hosts on November 27, it will mark the first time the mens team has hosted an NCAA Tournament soccer game on campus since 1993, when the team lost to Boston University, 2-1.
St. Johns, 13-9 all-time in NCAA Tournament action, will host the winner of the Holy Cross-FDU match on Wednesday, November 27 at 7 p.m. at Belson Stadium.