St. John's University Athletics
Red Storm Opens Season At Holy Cross On Saturday
2/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Feb. 13, 2009
- 2009 Season Outlook
- Watch Live! Holy Cross preview with head coach Jason Miller
- Watch Live! StormTracker All-Access Interview with Tom Manes and Jerry Nevin
WORCESTER, Mass. - The St. John's men's lacrosse team will put its stick skills to the test in Saturday's 2009 season-opener on Saturday at Holy Cross. Saturday's contest is slated for a noon start on Hart Turf Field. The non-conference game mark's the start of the 20th season for the Red Storm Lacrosse program.
The Series:
- St. John's (0-0) has played Holy Cross (0-0) seven times over the course of the program's history. The Red Storm has a 6-1 advantage over the Crusaders, with Holy Cross winning the last meeting, 7-5, on St. John's home turf on Feb. 16, 2008. When the teams last met in Worcester, Mass., on March 12, 1994, the Red Storm defeated the Crusaders by the same score. The teams met intermittently from 1984-1994.
- On Feb. 16, 2008, St. John's resumed its series against Patriot League foe Holy Cross. Five St. John's players scored in the last outing. Then-junior Tom Manes and then-senior Justin O'Donnell led the team in scoring with one goal and one assist each. O'Donnell's classmates Graeme Gillespie, Rob Gannon and Jack Rosson also netted goals. St. John's started the game up 3-0, but Holy Cross tied it up in the third period with a goal from Luke Marchard. Five minutes later, the Crusaders took the lead. Down 7-4, Manes scored with five minutes left in the game to bring the Red Storm within two, but the game remained scoreless thereafter.
- Holy Cross is the first of two Patriot League teams St. John's will face in 2009. The Red Storm will host Lehigh at home on March 21. The team also hosted an exhibition game on Feb. 7 against Lafayette. Overall, St. John's is 13-10 against Patriot League teams. Of all the teams in the conference, St. John's has the best record against the Crusaders at 6-1.
On The Turf:
- The Red Storm holds most of its experience in the midfield with Trevor Michaelsen, Malcolm Miles, captain Jamal Jones, Tom Manes and Pat McClay, all returning. Rookie schoolmates from Massapequa High School in Massapequa, N.Y., Carl Iacona and Matt Hurst are new additions to the roster. But both freshmen will aid the seasoned starters on both the first and second midfield lines.
- St. John's will have a different look on the attack side of the field from a year ago as senior Drew Schanen will make his debut as a starter and will be looked upon to be the leader on the attack unit. He will be flanked on both sides by sophomore lefty Terence Leach and rookie Harry Kutner, both talented players who have scored a few in the past three scrimmages.
- Second-year captain Matt Viscusi returns to lead the defensive midfielders with Reggie Davis, Nick Messinger and sophomore Dan Kalata.
Senior captain Dom DeNapoli returns as St. John's most experience specialist taking the field as the starting face-off man and long stick middie. Sophomore Eric Schmit will be second in command at the face-off X after winning 3-of-6 draws as a rookie. Freshman Dan Viviano will back up DeNapoli with the long pole. He missed much of the fall with an ankle injury, but is back and healthy and ready to play.
The defense will be led by a pair of juniors in Jerry Nevin and goaltender Gavin Buckley. Nevin moved to close-defense from long stick middie for the 2009 season but has seen time in every game since his freshman season, dabbling in both positions. Buckley started seven games for the Red Storm in 2008, is the most experienced member of the St. John's defense. Buckley went 2-5 for St. John's last season and had a career-best game against then-No. 1 Duke on May 4, 2008 with 18 saves and a save percentage of .523. The two will be helped by sophomores Dan Cremens and Mike Sherry on close-D. The duo both saw time as rookies and are looking to fill the holes left by the class of 2008.
Scouting the Crusaders:
- Holy Cross, led by fifth-year head coach Adam Pascal, returns 27 letterwinners, including eight starters from its 2008 team. The 39-man roster is the largest since Pascal has been at the helm of the program.
- The team is led by nine seniors and nine juniors and bring a lot of experience to the Crusaders. Seniors Luke Marchand and Jimmy Harrison, the team's co-captains, will lead Holy Cross on either end of the field.
- Marchand returns to the midfield after having a career-year of 16 goals and five assists for 21 points in 2008. He was second on the team in goals, tied for third in assists and was fourth in points. Scoring-wise, Marchand will be backed the Crusaders' top two point producers from 2008 in juniors Edison Parzanese and Chris Smirti. Parzanese led the team in assists with 21 and points with 33 as he also scored 12 gaosl. Smirti is coming off a season in which he led the team in goals with a career-best 18 and was second in points with a career-best 23.
- Harrison enters his third year as the team's starting goaltender and was named team Defensive Player of the Year twice. Junior Connor Sweeney will back him up between the pipes.
Up Next:
St. John's will host the Quinnipiac Bobcats on its home turf on Saturday, Feb. 21. Face-off is slated for 1 p.m. on DaSilva Memorial Field. The game will be broadcast live via StormTracker All-Access for a fee. Free live in game stats will also be available via GameTracker on RedStormSports.com.
