St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Men's Soccer: A Decade Of Excellence
1/15/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Jan. 15, 2010
QUEENS, N.Y. - A widely successful decade came to a close for the St. John's men's soccer program with a pair of All-Decade honors. Shalrie Joseph was honored in his professional career as a member of the Soccer America MLS All-Decade XI, while Chris Wingert was named to the College Soccer News All-Decade first team for his efforts as a collegian.
Perhaps the highlight of the decade was the program's three College Cup appearances in 2001, 2003 and 2008. The squad reached the NCAA Tournament Round of 16 seven times and posted a 16-9-0 record in a total of nine NCAA Tournament appearances.
The decade also saw the construction of one of the premiere venues in college soccer, Belson Stadium. Primarily funded with a generous gift from Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Belson, St. John's opened the stadium on Sept. 21, 2002 with a 1-1 tie against nationally-ranked Wake Forest. In eight seasons since, the Red Storm has gone on to post a 58-8-15 (.809) record at home.
The Soccer America National Coach of the Year in 2001, head coach Dr. Dave Masur led the squad to an overall record of 135-48-41 (.694) in the decade and a 66-17-23 (.731) mark in conference action. St. John's won three BIG EAST Tournament crowns in 2001, 2006 and 2009 and added two regular season titles in 2003 and 2008.
Wingert highlights the individual accolades of the decade, winning the 2003 M.A.C. Hermann Trophy as the top player in Division I soccer. An award-winning 2003 season for Wingert also included first team All-America honors, BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year accolades, first team All-BIG EAST honors and CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year honors. Wingert, in fact, became the first men's soccer player to win the awards for the top player and top student in the same season.
The program also had six All-America selections, including two first team accolades for Wingert (2002 and 2003). In 2001, Jeff Matteo earned second team honors, while Joseph was a third team honoree. Matt Groenwald was a third team choice in 2005 and Joel Gustafsson was a second team selection in 2008.
Off the field achievements have been abundant for the program as well with nine Academic All-America selections. Both Wingert (2001-03) and Groenwald (2003-05) were three-time Academic All-Americans, while Jeff Stepan was a two-time honoree (2006-07). In 2000, Jeff Stoklosa became was the program's first Academic All-American. Wingert (2003) and Groenwald (2004) also gave the Red Storm back-to-back CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year selections.
A total of 10 players were drafted in the MLS SuperDraft, including three second-round picks in Joseph, Wingert and Matteo.
In selecting Joseph to the All-Decade XI, Soccer America describes the midfielder as "the league's best player to never win the MVP Award or a league title, four Best XI honors in the past five seasons give some indication of his prowess." A six-time MLS All-Star, Joseph was one of three finalists for the 2009 Volkswagen MLS MVP award and also earned MLS Best XI honors for the fourth-time in his professional career. Described in 2008 by Soccer America as the league's "best all-around player," Joseph has led the New England Revolution to MLS Cup Finals three times.
Selected to the All-Decade first team by College Soccer News, Wingert led St. John's to two College Cup appearances, one BIG EAST Tournament title, one BIG EAST regular season crown and a 61-17-13 record. The defender was a two-time first team All-American, a two-time BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, a two-time first team All-BIG EAST selection and a two-time second team All-BIG EAST selection. Off the field, Wingert was the 2003 Academic All-American of the Year and a three-time Academic All-American.
