St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Lacrosse To Play Scarlet Knights Saturday
3/28/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
March 28, 2008
QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's lacrosse team travels down the New Jersey Turnpike to face the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in an ECAC contest on Saturday, March 29. Face-off is slated for 1 p.m. at Yurcak Field in Piscataway, N.J.
- The Red Storm (0-7, 0-2 ECAC) is looking for a repeat performance of last season when the team earned its first-ever ECAC victory, 6-4, over the Scarlet Knights at home on March 31, 2007. St. John's is looking to rebound off a 12-3 mid-week loss to the Siena Saints on Tuesday. The Scarlet Knights (2-4, 1-1 ECAC) are even in ECAC play this season so far with a 13-10 victory over Hobart on March 21 and a loss to Fairfield on March 8. Rutgers is also coming off a loss, after falling 7-6 in a tough match up at Princeton on Tuesday night.
- Saturday's contest is the 16th meeting between the two schools, the longest series of any of the Red Storm's 2008 opponents. Prior to last season's 6-4 victory, St. John's had been 0-14against Rutgers.
The Series Against The Scarlet Knights
- Rutgers leads the all-time series against the Red Storm 14-1. The series dates back to 1984. With 15 games played, St. John's and Rutgers have the longest running history of any of the Red Storm's 13 2008 opponents.
- Five of the games have been decided by three goals or less. Two of the five have been a one goal battle. In ECAC-play (since 2005), the Red Storm has lost two close games decided by three goals in 2005 and one in 2006. Last season, St. John's earned its first-ever ECAC victory and first win against the Scarlet Knights in a two goal decision.
- In the historic 6-4 victory on March 31, 2007, midfielder Justin O'Donnell scored the game-winning goal, fed by Tom Manes, three minutes into the fourth period after the Scarlet Knights went on a three goal run midway through the third to tie the contest up at four. Tom Michaelsen powered in the safety goal past Rutgers goaltender Bill Olin two minutes later leading the Red Storm to their first ECAC win. Then-senior defender Anthony Bozymowski held Rutgers' leading scorer Colin Checcio to just two goals.
- On April 5, 2006, the Red Storm and Scarlet Knights dueled down the wire in a one goal showdown. Down 4-1 going into the fourth period, the Red Storm almost took the game away from the Scarlet Knights as O'Donnell and Graeme Gillespie closed the gap to one goal with three minutes left. After a Rutgers turnover, the Red Storm got the ball back with 42 seconds left in regulation, but the team was unable to get off a shot. The Red Storm defense held the Scarlet Knights scoreless in the entire second half and the offense out-shot Rutgers, 30-19, 14-3 in the final period. The Red Storm defense held the Scarlet Knights to just eight shots on goal, while RU allowed 17.
Last Time Out
- In a mid-week contest on Tuesday, March 25, the Red Storm lost 12-3 to the Siena Saints at home at DaSilva Memorial Field. Junior Dom DeNapoli scored his first goal of the season, while senior Tom Michaelsen and junior Drew Schanen also netted goals. Junior Tom Manes had his fifth assist of the season and currently leads the team in that category.
Around The ECAC
- Georgetown (4-2, 2-0 ECAC) currently leads the conference with Loyola (4-3, 2-0 ECAC) close behind. Penn State, Fairfield and Rutgers all have one win and lone loss in the ECAC, while Hobart, UMass and St. John's are all hunting for their first league victories.
Michaelsen Marking A Milestone
- With his goal in the second period against Siena on March 25, senior Tom Michaelsen becomes the fifth person in St. John's history to reach 100 career points. Michaelsen is currently fifth on the Red Storm's All-Time Leading Scorers List with 100 points (63 goals, 37 assists). With three more assists, Michaelsen will also become the fifth Red Storm athlete to score 40 goals and 40 assists. Only three other St. John's lacrosse players have reached this mark, leading scorer Mike Bolger (97 goals, 122 assists), Brian Bugge (73 goals, 102 assists), Wm. Andrew Bolger (46 goals, 81 assists) and John Welsh (41 goals, 42 assists).
Scouting the Rutgers Scarlet Knights
- Rutgers (2-4, 1-1 ECAC) is looking to rebound a tough 7-6 loss to the No. 17/16 Princeton Tigers on Tuesday, March 25. Rutgers was only able to score one goal in the second half.
- The Scarlet Knights have lost their four games by a combined seven goals, all four opponents have been ranked in the Top 20.
- Rutgers is led by sophomore Justin Pennington who has 18 points (12 goals, 6 assists). Freshman Kory Kelly is the Scarlet Knights' leading goal scorer with 13 goals, he has scored seven goals over the last four games and has marked three hat tricks this season. Along with Pennington and Kelly, Rutgers boasts a lot of young talent on offense. Sophomore Gerhard Buehning is tied with Kelly for second on the team in points with 14 (9 goals, 5 assists), and had three goals in the Scarlet Knights' ECAC-victory over Hobart. Freshman Brian Shemesh and Kelly also netted three in the 13-10 win.
On Deck
The Red Storm hosts UMass on Saturday, April 5 at DaSilva Memorial Field at 1 p.m.
Players Mentioned
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