St. John's University Athletics
Looking For ECAC Win No. 2, St. John??' Hosts Hobart On Senior Day
4/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
The Red Storm is back at home after a two-game conference road tour. With a three-game win-streak on DaSilva Memorial, St. John???s is looking to make it four as the team collides with the Hobart Statesmen, Saturday, April 21, at 1 p.m.
??? St. John???s (4-7, 1-4 ECAC) has played three straight ECAC opponents since the end of March. The Red Storm is looking to rebound off its 9-5 loss at Penn State on April 14 to get its second ECAC victory and close out its home season on a winning note.
??? Hobart (4-6, 1-4 ECAC) takes to the road after a tough 17-12 loss at home against Massachusetts last Saturday.
??? The Statesmen hold a 2-0 series lead against the Red Storm, with wins in both the 2005 and 2006 seasons. The Red Storm will be looking out for the Statesmen???s leading scorer, Daryl Veltman, who scored hat tricks in both Hobart wins against St. John???s.
??? The Red Storm seniors, T.J. O???Shea, Anthony Bozymowski, Rick Ruggles and George Kaleh and senior support staff, Kara Tlcozkowski, Julianne Mahoney and Emily Lozinak, will be honored for their dedication to the lacrosse program prior to the St. John???s - Hobart face-off.
??? Up next the Red Storm will travel up I-95 to Fairfield, Conn. to play its final game of the season against league opponent, the Fairfield Stags on Sunday, April 29. Face-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.
??? Today's contest will feature live audio and live stats via the internet at www.RedStormSports.com. Follow all the action as Ralph Bednarczyk calls the plays as the Red Storm hopes to get their second win of the season. Follow the following link for the audio broadcast.
Storm Tracker
Home Field Advantage
??? On DaSilva Memorial Field, the Red Storm holds a 3-1 home field advantage. After losing the home-opener to the then-No. 1 ranked Georgetown Hoyas, the Red Storm has defeated three consecutive opponents in front of its hometown crowd: 9-3 over Lafayette (March 6), 9-8 over Quinnipiac (March 13), and its first ever ECAC win since 2005, 6-4 over Rutgers (March 31). With a win, the Red Storm could make it 4-1 on DaSilva, almost a complete turn-around from last season???s 1-5 record at home. The Statesman are 1-3 on the road on the road this season. In its last outing in front of its hometown crowd, the Red Storm earned its first league victory since the program???s reinstatement in 2005.
Battle At The X
??? Junior Jack Rosson leads the Red Storm at the X this season with 76 wins and a .487 winning percentage. Rosson is currently ranked 33rd in the NCAA in face-offs moving up two spots from last week???s 35 spot. Dan Spinella of Hobart is ranked 25th in the national rankings and won 19-of-20 face-offs.
Manes Storming Through A Late Season Scoring Roll
??? In the last three Red Storm contests, midfielder Tom Manes has led the Red Storm scoring efforts with three points in both the St. John???s victory over Rutgers (March 31) and its recent loss to Massachusetts (April 7) and two assists against Penn State (April 14). Since the Red Storm???s 9-8 victory over Quinnipiac on March 13, Manes has scored at least one goal or assist in six games. Manes is third in points with 18 with a second-best team assists total with 12. Eight of his 18 points have come in the last three games.
O???Donnell And Michaelsen Move Up In Red Storm???s All-Time Scoring List
??? Midfielder Justin O???Donnell and attackman Tom Michaelsen started the season with 47 and 57 career points, respectively. In 11 games thus far this season, O???Donnell has advanced his career point total to 64, moving up one spot to No. 16, while Michaelsen???s team-high 29 points this season ties him at 11th on the record list with 85 points in 37 games played. If his scoring streak continues, Michaelsen is on par to crumble Chris Johnston???s 107 career goals in 58 games, set in 1988-1992.
Red Storm In The National Top 10
??? According to the most recent statistics released by the NCAA, the Red Storm moved up two spots to No. 8 in man-down defense with a .800 kill percentage with just 13 goals allowed on 67 man-down situations. Dartmouth leads the NCAA with a .897 percent penalty killing percentage. The Red Storm is ranked in six additional categories:
??? 27th in Scoring Defense (8.82)
??? 35th in Face-Off Win Percentage (.470)
??? 40th in Win Percentage (.364)
??? 44th in Scoring Margin (-2.0)
??? 46th in Man-Up Offense (.188)
??? 49th in Scoring Offense (6.82)
??? Individually, the Red Storm has five athletes in the NCAA Top 100 in their respective specialties. Attackman Tom Michaelsen is ranked in the Top 100 in all three offensive categories: points per game, goals per game and assists per game. He moved up from 67th to 61st in points per game (2.64), 98th in goals per game (1.45) and 49th in assists per game (1.18), moving up from 56th last week. Midfielder Rosson, is No. 28 in ground balls per game (4.55) and 33th in face-off win percentage (.487). Offensively, Trevor Michaelsen, a junior attackman, is ranked 67th in goals per game (1.64) and Tom Manes ranks at No. 58 in assists per game (1.09), feeding three goals in the Rutgers win (March 31) , adding one against UMass (Apr. 7) and two more against Penn State (Apr. 14). On defense, Mike Luyster ranks in at No. 90 in ground balls per game with 3.09.
The Brothers from Bethpage - On The Verge Of D1 Leaderboard
??? So far this season, the Michaelsen twins lead the Red Storm offense with a combined 50 points (34G, 16A). Trevor Michaelsen has a team high of 18 goals, scoring a career best four against Bellarmine (Feb. 24) adding three assists for his season best of seven points. Tom Michaelsen is close behind in goals (16) and leads the team in both points and assists with 29 and 13 respectively. Both twins had matching hat tricks in the Red Storm???s 9-8 victory at home against the Bobcats of Quinnipiac. Tom has scored hat tricks in each of the Red Storm???s victories: Lafayette (March 6), Quinnipiac (March 13) and Siena (March 21). Trevor, who has made an immediate impact playing his first year for St. John???s after transferring from Rutgers in 2005, averages almost two goals a game in nine games played thus far. He has had hat tricks against Bellarmine (Feb. 24) and Quinnipiac (March 13). Both twins have scored a point in the past 11 contests, putting them on par to eventually crack the NCAA Division I leaderboard of consecutive games with a goal or assist. Neither twin scored a point in the season opener against Bucknell.
St. John???s Scores First ECAC Win Since 2005
??? On March 31, four minutes into the fourth period, junior midfielder Justin O'Donnell helped make Red Storm lacrosse history as he sent the game-winning goal past Rutgers goaltender Bill Olin to give St. John's its first win over a conference opponent since the program's reinstatement in 2005. Two minutes later, junior Tom Michaelsen sealed the deal for the Red Storm as the team celebrated its 6-4 win over the Scarlet Knights on DaSilva Memorial. The win gave the Red Storm a two-game win streak, and came during a week where the Scarlet Knights received national votes.
Michaelsen Two-Time ECAC Honor Roll Selection (4/2/07)
??? Junior Tom Michaelsen earned his second straight ECAC Honor Roll selection for his two goals against Rutgers (March 31). Michaelsen is ninth in the league in points per game (2.78 per game), and assists per game (1.11/game) and continues to lead the Red Storm in points with 25. Michaelsen also shared an earned ECAC Honor Roll selection with Justin O'Donnell last week as they combined for ten points in the Red Storm's win against Siena (March 21).
O???Donnell, Michaelsen Score Career-Best Efforts Against Siena
??? Justin O???Donnell and Tom Michaelsen earned March 26th ECAC Honor Roll selection for their combined 10 point performance against Siena (March 21). O???Donnell, an Island Trees High School alum, scored a career-high of five goals with his first hat trick of the season and the sixth of his career. Michaelsen netted four goals and an assist of his own, his third three-goal effort this season and also the sixth hat trick of his career.
Rookie Spotlight: Goldberg the Goalie
??? Hewlett High School alumnus Dan Goldberg earned another ECAC mention for the week of March 13. Goldberg, a transfer from the U.S.M.A. Prep School tallied another double-digit save performance against the No. 19 Drexel Dragons, muting 23 of the Dragon???s goal efforts. Conferencewise, Goldberg leads the ECAC in saves per game (13.29) and is third in saver percentage (.600). Junior goaltender Dave Saccente and Goldberg were ranked eighth and ninth in the league in goals against average, respectively.
??? Goldberg made his first collegiate appearance and start against the then-No. 1 ranked Georgetown Hoyas (ECAC), Goldberg has taken over as starting goaltender. He also earned ECAC Honor Roll mentions for his performance against league favorite Georgetown. Against No. 19 Drexel, Goldberg muted a career-best 23 shots.
Against Ranked Opponents
??? So far this season, St. John???s has competed against four USILA Top 20 opponents, No. 12 Bucknell (Feb. 17), No. 6 Georgetown (March 3), No. 14 Loyola (March 17) and No. 15 Drexel (March 10).
??? Down 4-2 against then-No. 15 Loyola going into the third period, the Red Storm held a ranked team to just a two goal lead going into the second half for the third time all season (4-2, vs, Georgetown on March 3 and 3-2 vs. Bucknell on Feb. 18).
??? The Red Storm held the then-No. 1 ranked Georgetown Hoyas (March 3) to just four goals going into the third period. The defense stayed strong throughout the contest, holding the Hoyas to just 12 goals in 58 shots.
One for the Books
??? Against the then-No. 1 ranked Georgetown Hoyas, St. John's set an attendance record of 708 fans at DaSilva Memorial Field. The crowd was the greatest at any home game since the return of the lacrosse program. The last highest attendance record was set at 608 also against Georgetown in 2005.
Offensive Highs
??? Against Bellarmine (Feb. 24) Bobby Fitton and junior transfer Trevor Michaelsen each scored a career high four goals. Fitton saw time in 12 games, starting seven last season. He marked 10 points for the year with six goals and four assists. His four goals against Bellarmine puts him on course to triple his 2006 season total.
Coaching Changes For The Red Storm
??? Fall 2006 saw significant changes to the Red Storm sidelines as former head coach Rick Sowell traveled down the Long Island Expressway to head up the Stony Brook Seawolves. St. John's brought in the expertise of Coach Jason Miller, a former three-year first assistant at the University of Massachusetts.
??? Miller named Dan Paccione and former Red Storm captain John Kutner as his assistants. Paccione, who will head up the 2007 Red Storm offense, currently plays midfield for Major League Lacrosse's Chicago Machine, while Kutner, a St. John???s alum, and a junior college All-American, will direct the defense.
Last Time Out Against the Statesmen
??? St. John???s and Hobart last collided April 22, 2006 in Geneva, N.Y., as the Statesmen handed the Red Storm a 12-7 loss. St. John???s battled back from a five-goal deficit in the third period to close the gap to two, but fell short in the team???s final road game of the season.
??? Attackman Tom Michaelsen registered his second hat trick of the season and fifth of his career in the loss, while fellow attackman Bobby Fitton and midfielder Justin O???Donnell each netted a pair of goals, while middie Tom Manes notched two assists.
Scouting the Hobart Statesmen
??? Hobart is coming off a 17-12 loss to UMass on April 14. The Statesmen scored the most goals against the UMass defense this season. Eight players scored for the Statesmen
??? Junior attackman Jamie Kirk, earned ECAC honor roll mention on April 16 after getting two goals and two assists in the Statesmen???s 12-17 loss to UMass on April 14. Kirk leads the nation in assists per game with 3.1. He has 31 helpers so far this season, tied for 17th on Hobart???s all-time single season list with Larry Adkinson ???62, Roy McAdam ???80, Bill Miller ???91, and Jeff Tambroni ???92. Kirk is the first Statesman to crack the top 20 since 1993.
??? Hobart is led by Kirk with 41 points and Daryl Veltman with 36 points, 29 goals. Veltman is ranked 25th among all Division I schools in scoring a goal or assists in consecutive games. In his career he was scored 52 points in 15 consecutive games. Veltman was responsible for scoring two hat tricks against the Red Storm in the teams last two meetings, scoring three goals and two assists in 2005 and three goals and another helper in 2006. Veltman is also 18th in the Dvision I points leaderboard with 117 career points and 13th in career goals with 79. Veltman is ranked 5th in the NCAA in goals per game with 2.9.
??? Hobart???s Man-up offense is ranked fourth in the NCAA as the team has scored on 14 man-up opportunities in 28 attempts (.500 percentage). Their man-up team should match up well to the Red Storm???s man-down defense which is currently ranked eighth in the nation with a .800 penalty kill percentage.
??? The Statesmen???s scoring offense on a whole is also ranked in the NCAA Top 10 with an average of 11.4 goals per game. Hobart has scored 114 goals in its last 10 games.
??? Hobart???s only ECAC win this season came on March 31st at home against the Fairfield Stags. The Statesmen won the close match-up 11-10. Fairfield and Hobart were tied 9-9 one minute into the fourth quarter. Senior midfielder Sean Murphy scored the eventual game-winner followed by two goals from Kirk to give the Statesmen an 11-8 lead before Fairfield scored the final two goals in a last ditch effort. Statesmen first-year goalie Max Silberlicht recorded 17 stops in his first collegiate start, none more important than his stop on Fairfield???s Greg Downing???s shot as time expired.
For the most up-to-date information and statistics on St. John???s athletics please visit www.RedStormSports.com or call our hotline at 1-888-GO-STORM.
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