St. John's University Athletics
Red Storm Travels To Fairfield In Final ECAC Contest
4/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
April 24, 2009
QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's lacrosse team will travel to Fairfield, Conn., for its final league game of the season on Saturday, April 25. The Red Storm will face-off against the Fairfield Stags at 1 p.m. on Lessing Field.
Saturday's contest will be broadcast live on Fairfield's website www.FairfieldStags.com. The links can be found on the men's lacrosse schedule page. Fans can also follow free live stats provided by Fairfield.
St. John's game against the Stags will be the Red Storm's last-ever ECAC contest, as the team will compete in the newly-formed BIG EAST Lacrosse Conference starting in spring 2010.
The Red Storm (5-7, 1-5 ECAC) will be looking to rebound off losses a two-game game weekend against Hobart and No. 3 Notre Dame. St. John's lost, 10-9, to Hobart in closely-matched conference contest at home on Friday; then traveled to Notre Dame, Ind., where the team lost, 12-2, to the Fighting Irish on Sunday. Fairfield is coming off Tuesday's tough 12-6 loss to University of Massachusetts which tied their record at 6-6 and 3-3 in the league.
The Series Against Fairfield
Saturday's meeting is the seventh between the two schools and the third in ECAC play.
With a win against the Stags last season, St. John's tied the all-time series at 3-3, and made the conference series 2-1. The Stags won three-straight contests from 2005-2007, while the Red Storm victories came in 1981 and 1982, the first two years of the St. John's lacrosse program. Under the tutelage of head coach Bill Miltenberg, the Red Storm won, 17-6, at home in `81 and dominated, 26-6, in Connecticut.
In the prior three ECAC meetings between the teams, the Stags have won, 7-2 and 13-6, in 2006 and 2007, and St. John's won 10-7 in 2008.
When last they met, on April 26, 2008, St. John's defeated Fairfield, 10-7, on senior day on DaSilva Memorial Field. Tom Michaelsen (2008) led the team in scoring with a season-high of five points on one goal and four assists. His twin brother Trevor Michaelsen was second in scoring with two goals and one assist.
Justin O'Donnell (2008) and Malcolm Miles and Tom Manes also scored two goals each. Goaltender Gavin Buckley had a tremendous day between the pipes as he stopped five of Fairfield's shots in the first half. He finished with seven saves for the day.
Last time the Red Storm traveled to Fairfield, on April 29, 2007, the Stags led by nine at the half. Despite holding Fairfield scoreless in the third period, St. John's could not overcome the halftime deficit.
Scouting The Stags
The Stags are looking to rally back after losing 12-6 to University of Massachusetts on Tuesday. The Minutemen led 4-2 at the half, and Fairfield was able to come within one goal, 5-4, with 10 minutes left in the third period. UMass started a seven-goal rally that went well into the final period. Fairfield's John Snellman struck twice in the last 2:33 for the final margin.
The week prior, Fairfield dropped a 12-7 decision to No. 15 Loyola College. Stag goaltender Charlie Cipriano made a career-high 17 saves against the Greyhounds which gave him his third ECAC Rookie of the Week honor. It was his fifth weekly honor total.
Brent Adams leads they way for Fairfield with 25 points, off 14 goals and 11 assists. Adams is the leader in all three scoring categories. Chris Ajemian ties with Adams as the leading goal-scorer with 14.
Cipriano has started all 12 games in the net for Fairfield, with his back-up Tommy Kralovenec seeing a total of 42:43 minutes.
Within the league, Fairfield has defeated both Rutgers and Penn State, 5-4, and slipped by Hobart, 9-7.
Lacrosse For Autism Awareness
Saturday's contest against Fairfield is part of Lacrosse Unlimited's Lacrosse For Autism Awareness campaign. A portion of the proceeds from the Fairfield game will go to the Stamford Education 4 Autism.
On Sunday, May 3, the Red Storm will host its first-ever Lacrosse For Autism Awareness event when the nationally-ranked Duke Blue Devils come to Queens for the 2009 home-finale. All proceeds will go toward the Cody Center for Autism & Developmental Disabilities. The event features a pregame youth clinic and shooting demonstration with Major League Lacrosse's Long Island Lizards.
Last Time Out
St. John's lost, 12-2, to the undefeated No. 3 Notre Dame on Sunday in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
Tied after the first period, Notre Dame scored four goals in the second quarter and six more in second half to take a decisive lead over the Red Storm. St. John's had 36 shots to Notre Dame's 35, but Irish goaltender Scott Rodgers was a force between the pipes with 14 saves.
Three minutes into the second period, Zach Brenneman scored off a fast-break clear to give Notre Dame the 3-2 lead. Scoreless for the next eight minutes of play, Notre Dame extended its lead to two goals with a man-up goal off a Red Storm slashing penalty at 3:48. The Irish netted two more in the final minute of the period to take a four-goal, 6-2, lead over St. John's at the half.
Notre Dame continued on its scoring run, and netted one goal in the third and five more in the fourth period to win the game, 12-2.
Freshman Carl Iacona had his debut at the face-off X, winning one draw. Senior Dom DeNapoli won 6-of-16. Buckley had seven saves in the net for St. John's. Senior Malcolm Miles took a team-high 10 shots.
In The Red Zone
Senior Drew Schanen leads St. John's in points with 29 points on 24 goals and five assists. The North Brunswick, N.J., native's goal-tally is also a team-best. Senior Trevor Michaelsen and rookie Harry Kutner are tied for second with 24 points. Michaelsen has 19 goals and five assists, while Kutner has 13 goals with 11 assists. Kutner leads St. John's in assists.
Michaelsen is nine points away from becoming one of St. John's All-Time leading scorers.
Face-off specialist and LSM, senior Dom DeNapoli leads the team in ground balls with 107. Sophomore close-defender Mike Sherry is second on the team in GB's with 37. Rookie midfielder Carl Iacona is close behind with 28.
Sherry leads the team in caused turnovers with 19, while DeNapoli is second with 16.
StormTracker Stat Of The Week
8: For eight-straight weeks, senior Dom DeNapoli leads Division I in ground balls per game (8.92)
Welcome Back
On Sunday, May 3, St. John's lacrosse will honor its all-time career saves leader and only NCAA All-American, Joe Weingart. Weingart will be honored in a special halftime presentation coinciding with St. John's season-finale against Duke.
On Deck
St. John's will host No. 6 Duke on May 3 for its 2009 season-finale. Game time is slated for 1 p.m. Sunday's game will honor the Class of 2009 in a senior day celebration, and feature 1986 All-American Joe Weingart as part of alumni day festivities.
