St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Comeback Stuns Creighton, 3-2
12/7/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Dec. 7, 2003
Nearly one year ago to the day, the St. John's men's soccer team was left with a stunned feeling, as they lost a double overtime NCAA Tournament match on their own field.
A year later, the Red Storm stunned Creighton, 3-2, in regulation, and advanced to the NCAA Fiinal Four for the second time in three years, and the third time in program history.
The victory was more stunning because of the fashion in which St. John's, the No. 6 seed in the 48-team field, secured the win. The Red Storm were dealt a severe blow early in the first half when junior defender Chris Leidner (Greenlawn, N.Y.) was sent off the field after a red card. After a scoreless first half, however, the Bluejays scored two goals in the first 25 minutes of the second half to take a 2-0 lead.
St. John's, which was carried through parts of the 2003 season by a potent offensive attack, scored two goals in just over a minute of play to tie the game and senior Simone Salinno (Lucera, Italy) sealed the win with a breakaway goal with 12:24 left to play, lifting the Red Storm to the win.
"It's certainly one of the most dramatic wins we've had here," St. John's Head Coach Dave Masur said. "I told the guys not to quit, not to get down. I'm very proud of the effort they showed. To be down two goals and playing a man-down for most of the match, those are big challenges. But we've got to refocus now and get ready for the Final Four."
The Red Storm had controlled the early portion of the first half, with a shot from Salinno nearly hitting the mark. Creighton, however, picked up a big break when Leidner was called for a hard foul just past midfield at 11:09. St. John's took six shots in the first half, with the Bluejays taking only three.
In the second half, however, Creighton jumped on top. Bluejays forward Michael Kraus fed a ball through the box to forward Damien Westfield, whose blast from six yards out gave Creighton a 1-0 lead at 52:38.
Just under 10 minutes later, the lead was extended to two. Kraus sent a ball from the near post to defender Matt Wieland at the far post. Wieland caught St. John's senior goalkeeper Bill Gaudette (Hummelstown, Pa.) leaning the other way and knocked it in at 59:36, giving the Bluejays a 2-0 lead and seemingly sealing the win.
St. John's would counter. A corner kick taken by Red Storm senior All-American Chris Wingert (Babylon, N.Y.) was sent to the top of the box. Junior Matt Groenwald (Mt. Prospect, Ill.) faked an attempt and let it slide to junior Ryan Kelly (Marlton, N.J.), who sent a low shot through traffic and beat Creighton keeper Andrew Brown to the lower near post at 65:06.
Nearly a minute later, freshman Ashley Kozicki (Pleasant Valley, Pa.) was taken down in the box as he raced toward the goal and a penalty kick was called. Wingert stepped to the line and sent his shot past Brown and tied the game at 66:04.
Both teams made aggressive runs in the final 10 minutes, but St. John's capitalized when Kozicki sent a ball from the far side of the field to Salinno, who was racing with a defender on him. He caught the pass near the 18-yard line and sent a blast from 12 yards out to the lower near post, giving St. John's a 3-2 lead at 78:36.
The Red Storm held Creighton in check in the final minutes - with Gaudette making a diving save on a shot from Kraus - and pulled out the thrilling 3-2 win.
Creighton out shot St. John's, 16-11, with the Red Storm taking three corner kicks to the Bluejays' two.
The game was played on the campus of the University of Maryland's Ludwig Field, as a winter storm that hammered the New York area prevented the Red Storm from hosting at Belson Stadium.
St. John's will play Maryland in the NCAA Final Four on Friday (time to be announced) in Columbus, Ohio.