St. John's University Athletics
Red Storm Seeks 3-0 Start Against Local Rival Stony Brook
2/25/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
Feb. 25, 2013
QUEENS, N.Y. -
- Game Notes
- WATCH LIVE: ESPN3 Broadcast
- WATCH: Interview With Brandon Ayers
- Follow St. John's Lacrosse on Twitter
The Red Storm (2-0) looks to continue its strong start to the 2013 season when it takes on local rival Stony Brook (1-2) at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 26 at DaSilva Memorial Field in Queens, N.Y.
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 produced by the St. John's Television Network (STJ-TV). Sid Farooqi will be on the call with Terry Mangan, former Lafayette College head coach and the 2010 Patriot League Coach of the Year, slated as the analyst.
SERIES HISTORY: ST. JOHN'S vs. STONY BROOK
•St. John's is 2-3 all-time against Stony Brook and 1-2 since program reinstatement in 2005.
•The Red Storm is 1-5 against Long Island schools Stony Brook and Hofstra since reinstatement in 2005. The victory came last season at Stony Brook in an 11-9 win over the Seawolves on March 13, 2012.
•St. John's defeated Stony Brook last season after losing 9-4 to the Seawolves on March 15, 2011 at DaSilva Memorial Field. In the team's first matchup since 1986, St. John's lost at Stony Brook 21-6 on March 16, 2010.
PREVIOUS MEETING: RED STORM TAKES THE ISLAND
On a night where seemingly neither team could separate, St. John's would emerge victorious at Stony, 11-9, in a game that featured eight ties.
The Red Storm scored all 11 goals in six-on-six play after averaging just 5 goals in the two previous meetings with the Seawolves.
Sophomore attackman Kieran McArdle reached the 20-point plateau on the season with four goals, all in the second half, and an assist against the Seawolves. Kevin Cernuto and senior midfielders Harry Kutner and Terence Leach all finished with two goals apiece. Junior Jordan Rothman gained key possessions in a closely contested game for the Red Storm going 14-of-23 from the faceoff X and picking up five groundballs.
Jeff Lowman played solidly between the pipes once again recording 12 saves against a barrage of shots in front of net. Long stick midfielder Dillon Ayers battled every step of the way scooping up five groundballs and causing a turnover. The defensive midfield unit of Brandon Ayers, Connor Mullen and Matt Hurst registered nine groundballs and facilitated a clearing game that went 16-of-19 for the game.
The Red Storm followed the Stony Brook victory with a thrilling 7-6 win over Rutgers. It was the only time last season that St. John's won back-to-back games.
LAST TIME OUT: RED STORM EARNS PROGRAM'S FIRST-EVER WIN OVER NO. 17/20 YALE, 10-9
An eight-goal day from the St. John's attack and a score from McArdle in the final minute of play secured the 10-9 win and the program's first-ever victory over No. 17/20 Yale on Feb. 23, 2013.
St. John's has now won three games over ranked opponents in the last two seasons after the Red Storm took down No. 20 Georgetown and No. 2 Notre Dame last season. It was the first triumph over a ranked opponent at DaSilva Memorial Field since St. John's upset the No. 5 Georgetown Hoyas on Feb. 28, 2009.
McArdle finished with three goals and two assists while Cernuto carried the offensive load early on with two goals and three assists. Colin Keegan also recorded a hat trick to complete a 13-point day for the Johnnies junior attackmen against the 18th-ranked scoring defense from a year ago.
Yale challenged with 48 total shots, but St. John's net-minder Lowman was up to the task recording 17 total saves. It was the most saves by the senior goalie since turning away 18 shots against Georgetown on March 5, 2011. Mark DiFrangia led a strong defensive effort with three groundballs and one assist.
Despite being outshot 48-to-23 and losing the groundball battle 32-to-18, St. John's used an impressive 43.5 percent shooting mark and Lowman's 17 saves to gain the advantage.
IT'S HOW YOU START: BEST STARTS IN RED STORM HISTORY
The win over No. 17/20 marks the first 2-0 start for St. John's since the 2010 season when the Red Storm opened with victories over Holy Cross and Air Force.
The Red Storm began the 2009 season with four straight wins for the best start since program reinstatement in 2005.
The 1983 edition of St. John's lacrosse owns the best season start in program history at 5-0. Those are the only two instances St. John's has opened a season 3-0.
STORMING THE RANKINGS
After two games, McArdle currently ranks third in the NCAA in points per game (7.00), 14th in goals per game (3.0) and third in assists per game (4.0)
Cernuto ranks 33rd in points per game (4.0) and 13th in assists (2.5).
Keegan ranks 19th in the NCAA in shooting percentage with a 57.1 percent rate on his four goals.
The Red Storm ranks in the top-30 nationally in eight major statistical categories. St. John's has the nation's 23rd-best scoring margin (1.50 per game), 16th-ranked scoring defense (9.0 goals per game) and stops the 20th-most shots per game (12.5 saves per game).
On the offensive end, St. John's owns national ranks of 26th in scoring offense (10.5 goals per game), 13th in assists per game (7.5), 21st in points per game (18.0), 19th in turnovers per game (14.0) and 12th in shooting percentage (33.9 percent).
Long stick midfielder Dillon Ayers is fifth on the active long pole career scoring list with 15 career points (4 goals, 11 assists).
McArdle is tied for twelfth among active NCAA players with 58 career assists. He has the second-most assists in the nation for juniors, trailing only Jordan Wolf of Duke who has 59 in his career.
BIG EAST REPORT: CERNUTO NAMED OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK; LOWMAN TO HONOR ROLL
Cernuto earned his first-career BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week honor with two goals and three assists in the upset of No. 17/20 Yale.
Lowman also cracked the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll with his 17-save performance.
KEEP IT 100: McARDLE REACHES THE CENTURY MARK
McArdle became just the second player since program reinstatement to reach 100 career points against Holy Cross on Feb. 16, 2013; doing so in his first 30 games.
The junior now has 55 goals, 58 assists and 113 points for his career. The only other Red Storm player to reach 100 points since 2005 was Tom Michaelsen who amassed 117 points from 2005-2008.
McArdle is four points away from tying the Red Storm record for career points since program reinstatement.
AWARD SEASON: BIG EAST POLL AND PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM ANNOUNCED
McArdle was honored as the Preseason BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year after leading the conference in points and assists the season before.
Dillon Ayers joined McArdle on the Preseason All-BIG EAST team as both were unanimous selections.
It was the second-consecutive year that Dillon Ayers received postseason honors after becoming the first player awarded in Red Storm history in 2012.
SCOUTING STONY BROOK
Stony Brook has opened the 2013 season 1-2 with a victory over Lafayette and hard-fought losses to Marist and No. 6/6 Virginia.
On Saturday, the Seawolves trailed the Cavaliers 8-7 late in the third quarter but Virginia closed the game on a 5-0 run.
Freshman goalie Dan Shaughnessey recorded 19 saves against Virginia, as Stony Brook was outshot 55-16 and 31-4 in the second half. The Stony Brook goalie has stopped 34 shots and has an 11.37 goals against average in his first three games.
Stony Brook is 1-1 on the road this season after dropping the season opener at Marist 13-9 and defeating Lafayette 12-10 last Tuesday.
Jeff Tundo leads the team with 10 points (7 goals, 3 assists) and freshman midfielder Frank Lucatuorto leads Stony Brook with 17 groundballs.
Stay up to date with all St. John's lacrosse news at Redstormsports.com and following the team on Twitter, @STJ_Lacrosse.
