St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Wins Rutgers Classic, Gotsmanov Named Tourney MVP
10/4/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 4, 2004
Queens, NY - The St. John's men's soccer team captured the team championship at the Rutgers Classic this past weekend, the third-straight year the Red Storm have come out victorious at the weekend tournament.
St. John's, 6-3-1 overall and 3-1-0 in the BIG EAST, posted a 4-1 win over Hartwick on Friday night, and lost to Charleston, 1-0, on Sunday. Hartwick posted a 2-1 overtime win over Rutgers on Sunday in the tournament finale.
The Red Storm were led by freshman forward Andrei Gotsmanov (St. Paul, MN), who was named the tournament's most valuable offensive player. Gotsmanov recorded the first hat trick of his career in the 4-1 win over the Hawks, scoring three goals in a span of 26 minutes in the first half.
The hat trick was the first by a St. John's player since October 6, 1996, when former Red Storm All-American Jesse Van Saun scored three in a 7-0 win over UNLV. Ironically, Van Saun's hat trick came on the same field and in the same tournament.
In recording the hat trick, Gotsmanov tied Van Saun for the Yurcak Field record for most goals in a game.
Also named to the All-Tournament team were senior captain Chris Corcoran (Marshfield, MA), senior Simone Salinno (Lucera, Italy) and freshman Patrik Engstrom (Stockholm, Sweden).
After four games away from home, St. John's returns home to Belson Stadium on Wednesday night, hosting BIG EAST rival Rutgers (4-4-2, 1-1-1 BIG EAST). Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.
The Red Storm, ranked No. 18 in the latest poll by CollegeSoccerNews.com, have been led by a defensive unit that has posted six shutouts and given up only eight goals in 10 games this season. Senior goalkeeper Bill Gaudette (Hummelstown, PA) carries a 0.86 goals-against average a 5-2-1 record into this week's match.
