St. John's University Athletics
Lacrosse Team Battles Drexel in Home Opener Saturday
3/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
March 10, 2006
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QUEENS, N.Y - St. John's collides with the Dragons of Drexel at DaSilva Memorial Field in its home opner. Face-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. The Red Storm is coming off of a competitive, 9-5, loss to the 10th ranked team in the country, Georgetown. The Dragons, meanwhile, edged St. Joseph's Tuesday at home, 7-6.
THE SERIES
• Last year's contest was the only time the two programs ever met. The Red Storm fell to the Dragons, 11-5, in Philadelphia, Pa.
LAST WEEKEND
• St. John's is coming off a 9-5 loss to the No. 10 Hoyas of Georgetown in Washington, D.C. The Red Storm fell behind 5-0 by the end of the first quarter but rallied back, out-scoring GU 5-4 for the rest of the game. Sophomores Jack Rosson (Severna Park, Md.) and Tom Michaelsen (Bethpage, N.Y.) led St. John's, scoring two points each.
HONOR ROLL
• Sophomore goalkeeper Dave Saccente (Lake Grove, N.Y.) earned a spot on the ECAC's Weekly Honor Roll for his performance against the Hoyas. Saccente tied a personal best, recording 18 saves.
HOME OPENERS
• St. John's is 9-6 in home openers. The last time the Red Storm won a home opener was in 1995, the last year of the program before its nine year hiatus.
SCOUTING THE DRAGONS
• 2006 Campaign: The Dragons currently hold a 3-1 mark, 1-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). Drexel's conference win came against Robert Morris at home, 13-4, on Saturday, March 5. The Dragons went on a 5-0 scoring spree and never looked back. Another Drexel win was against Lafayette, 13-8, in Easton, Pa. The Dragons secured the win when five different players combined for six goals. Meanwhile, the team's lone loss came at tha hands of then No. 3 Virginia at home, 15-7. The Cavaliers scored eight straight goals in the third quarter to earn the victory.
• Last Time Out: Drexel is coming off a 7-6 victory over St. Joseph's at home. Junior Mike Filippone scored the game-winning goal with just under two minutes remaining in the contest. This was the Dragon's third straight win. Six Drexel players tallied at least one goal in the meeting. Senior Matt Musci was the only Dragon to score two and he also picked up an assist. Sophomore goalie Brucke Bickford recorded 13 saves.
• Dragon Returners: Drexel returns 20 letterwinners and seven starters from last season,including Musci and senior Jeff Pfeffer. Musci scored 16 goals and 11 assists for 27 points last year while Pfeffer tallied 19 goals and six assisits for 25 points.
• Class of 2009: Joining the Dragons this year are 15 freshman. On the attack, Adam Dennis has recorded two goals and one assist while Ron Garling has a goal and an assist. In the midfield, Jon Van Houten tallied one goal and three assists while Drew Mandela and Kevin Dart have each scored a goal. On the defense, Greg Avato and Mike Munoz saw action in all four contests, collecting four and two groundballs, respectively.
• Last Season: The Dragons finished with a 9-5 overall record, 1-4 in the CAA in 2005. Three players were named Second Team All-CAA by the league's coaches, junior defenseman Adam Crystal, sophomore defenseman Steve Grossi and 2005 graduate Matt Slotman.
• The Skipper: Head Coach Chris Bates enters his seventh year at the helm of Drexel lacrosse. He posts a record of 34-45 with the Dragons. Last year was the second time in Bates' career that the team won at least nine games. Before taking the head job in May of 1999, Bates served as an assistant coach for five seasons. A graduate of Darmouth in 1990, Bates played professionally for eight seasons in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League (MILL). For seven years, he was a member of the Philadelphia Wings and for one season he played for the Charlotte Cobras.
SECOND SEASON BACK
- St. John's begins its second season of play since the program's nine-year absence. Last year, the team went 2-11 and played well in a highly competitive ECAC conference. The Red Storm victories came at the hands of Robert Morris, 8-7, and to Hartford, 9-4.
EXPERIENCE
- The biggest strength for the Red Storm heading into the 2006 season will be its returning experience. Last year, St. John's had just one player with NCAA Division I experience and 26 of the 33 members were freshmen. This season, the squad returns 22 letterwinners and nine of its 10 starters.
THE CLASS OF 2007 AND 2009
- Joining the Red Storm this season are 10 freshmen and three transfer students. Midfielder Tom Manes (Philadelphia, Pa.) started in the Robert Morris contest and has let his presence be seen in both games this year. He has scored a point in each, a goal against the Colonials and an assist against the Hoyas. In high school, Manes was a member of the all-Catholic league his sophomore, junior and senior seasons and was a two time all-state nominee.
Freshman defenseman Dominick Denapoli (Hewlett, N.Y.) has also seen lot of playing time this season. He netted a goal against Robert Morris and has collected five groundballs. Denapoli helped lead his high school team to a conference and county title and was named to the all-conference team his sophomore season, all-county his junior year and honorble mention all-America for his senior campaign.
Meanwhile, the other freshmen joining the Red Storm include: Bobby Fitton (Oak Hill, Va.), who found the back of the net against Georgetown for his first collegiate goal, Liam Flynn (Buffalo, N.Y.), Jamal Jones (Severn, Md.), who recorded an assist against RMU, Patrick McClay (Mahopac, N.Y.), Chris Mills (Freeport, N.Y.), Drew Schanen (North Brunswick, N.J.), Matt Viscusi (Floral Park, N.Y.) and Brian Zambri (Brooklyn, N.Y.).
Transferring to St. John's this year are juniors Anthony Boyzmowski (Islip, N.Y.) and Rick Ruggles (Fair Lawn, N.J.) along with sophomore Trevor Michaelsen (Bethpage, N.Y.). Boyzmowski has started both games this season, picking up seven groundballs. He is a transfer from Herkimer County Community College, where he helped lead the team to the junior college national championship last year. Ruggles comes from Nassau Community College, where he helped lead the squad to the junior college national semifinals in 2005. Michaelsen, meanwhile, is a transfer from Rutgers University, but he will sit out the 2006 season due to NCAA transfer rules.
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
- Senior defenseman John Kutner (Garden City, N.Y.) was selected by Sowell to be the captain of the Red Storm. Kutner was sidelined for most of last year with a knee injury, but played in five games, starting three. Kutner came to St. John's from Nassau Community College where he earned junior college All-American honors.
AT THE HELM
- Head Coach Rick Sowell and assistant coaches Dan Chemotti and Terry Gilroy, return to the Red Storm sidelines for their second seasons. Sowell is no stranger to building programs to prominence. He spent five years with the Big Green of Dartmouth guiding them in his final season to an 11-3 overall record, an Ivy League Championship and an NCAA tournament berth. Chemotti, who coached alongside Sowell at Dartmouth, works mostly with the midfield and offense, while Gilroy returns to help the defense. Last season, Gliroy worked with the mandown defense, which was recognzied by the NCAA for allowing the fewest goals in the nation when other teams had an extra-man opportunity.
ON DECK
- The Red Storm hits the road Wednesday, March 15 to battle Hartford. Face-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. Last year, St. John's topped the Hawks, 9-4, at DaSilva Memorial Field. The Red Storm's next home game is Saturday, March 18 against Loyola at 1 p.m. To order tickets at DaSilva Memorial Field, you can either log on to www.RedStormSports.com or call 1-888-GO-STORM.
-Red Storm-
