St. John's University Athletics
Red Storm Travels To Yale To Battle No. 18 Bulldogs
2/24/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Feb. 24, 2012
Queens, N.Y. -
After an impressive 17-7 opening season victory over Holy Cross, St. John's will travel to New Haven, Conn. in an attempt to knock off the No. 18 Yale Bulldogs at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 25.
St. John's is 0-6 all-time against Yale, but the teams have met only once since the Red Storm lacrosse program was reinstated in 2005. Head coach Jason Miller lost 10-8 on Feb. 26, 2011 in his only career matchup against Yale.
In that game, Yale broke out with a 7-1 halftime lead as the Red Storm struggled to get the offense going. St. John's put together a string of five straight fourth quarter goals, which cut the Yale lead to one, 9-8, with 3:16 left in the game, but the rally ultimately fell just short. Kevin Cernuto and Ryan Fitzgerald led the offensive attack as they each finished with two goals and an assist. Goalie Jeff Lowman finished the contest with 15 saves which landed him on the BIG EAST Honor Roll for his efforts.
LAST TIME OUT
The Red Storm opened the season with an emphatic victory over the Holy Cross Crusaders where nine different St. John's players found the back of the net. The 17 goals scored in the season-opener were the most scored by St. John's during coach Miller's five year tenure. It was also the most goals scored by St. John's in a season-opener since the Red Storm defeated Marist 21-1 on March 10, 1990.
Cernuto, Colin Keegan and Kieran McArdle led the way with three goals apiece and Lowman stopped 15 Crusader shots on the afternoon. The last time three St. John's players all recorded hat tricks was the March 26, 2011 15-7 victory over Sacred Heart. Cernuto, McArdle and Brandon Ayers all completed that game with three scores.
St. John's would never trail in the contest and extended the lead to 12-2 at halftime courtesy of eight unanswered goals spanning the first and second quarters. The 17 Red Storm goals came on just 32 shots for an impressive .531 shooting percentage.
The Red Storm placed two players, Lowman and McArdle, on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for their performances. Lowman registered his first victory by stopping 15 total shots, eight of which came in the third quarter alone. McArdle tallied a career-high eight points on three goals and five assists against the Crusaders.
SCOUTING YALE
The game against St. John's will be the first of the season for Yale as the Ivy League does not open regular season play until this coming weekend. The Bulldogs are 55-53 during head coach Andy Shay's eight seasons with the program.
The Bulldogs return 31 letterwinners from last year and added a strong eleven man freshman class to solidify the team's depth. Two members of the Yale squad, senior attackman Matt Gibson and senior midfielder Gregory Mahony, were named to the Tewaaraton Award Watch List for the upcoming season. Gibson is coming off a 2011 campaign where he scored 20 goals and 16 assists, which garnered him USILA All-American and All-Ivy honors.
Yale finished last season 10-4 (3-3, Ivy) after finishing 2010 as Ivy League Champions. The Elis were strong on both sides of the field in 2011 finishing 11th in scoring offense (10.93 goals per game) and seventh in scoring defense (7.57 goals per game). Yale also returns standout face-off man Cole Yeager who led the Bulldogs to an NCAA best .659 faceoff percentage last season.
Keep up with Red Storm lacrosse all season long at RedStormSports.com and on Twitter by following @STJ_Lacrosse.
