St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Hosts Providence in BIG EAST Opener
3/31/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
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QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's men's lacrosse team (1-7, 0-0 BIG EAST) opens up BIG EAST play on Saturday as the Johnnies play host to Providence College for a 1 p.m., matchup on April 1, at DaSilva Memorial Field in Queens, N.Y.
The Red Storm looks to secure a win to open up conference play 1-0 on the season. St. John's is 15-1 against Providence in the all-time series record between the two programs.
Saturday's contest will be a special one as the Red Storm has dedicated the contest to the support of the HEADstrong Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization that aims to improve the quality of life for cancer patients and their families. During halftime the team will also celebrate the 25th-anniversary of the 1992 team, one of the most successful teams in program history.
The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3. Updates will be provided throughout the game on Twitter by following the handle @StJohnsLax.
SERIES HISTORY: ST. JOHN'S vs. PROVIDENCE
St. John's holds an impressive 15-1 all-time record when facing Providence going back to their first matchup on March 28, 1987.
The Red Storm is undefeated at home against the Friars, capturing a 17-7 win in the last home meeting between the contests in March of 2015.
Offense has played an important role in the Red Storm's success against the Friars, hitting double-digit goals in 5 of the last 7 meetings.
LAST TIME OUT: RED STORM LACROSSE DIGS IN AGAINST NO. 5/7 HOFSTRA; FALLS 9-6
In an exciting matchup of local rivals, the St. John's lacrosse team (1-7) fell 9-6 to No. 5/7 Hofstra (8-0), under the lights last Saturday.
The Red Storm maintained long possessions throughout the contest with a meticulous offense and held the nation's 16th-best scoring offense to its lowest season output of nine goals. The team also won the groundballs battle, 19-17.
Jason DeBenedictis looked back to his old ways as he led the Red Storm offense with four points on a pair of goals and assists. The junior attackman has only played four of the team's eight games after suffering an injury in the second game of the year. He now leads the team with five assists.
Freshman Matt Oehl got the first starting nod of his career and picked up an assist. Nick Heller scored twice for the Red Storm and Pat Smyth led the squad with four groundballs and a caused turnover.
Daniel Costa played all 60:00 in net and saved 7-of-16 for a .438 save percentage. Paul Tornatore and Erik Suh split faceoff duties and won 5-of-18 in the game.
The Johnnies outshot Hofstra 24-18 in the contest; however the Pride was more accurate with its shots finding 16 on net. Hofstra also took advantage of both its man-up chances. The teams played the clears game perfectly, combing 25-for-25.
SCOUTING THE FRIARS
Providence enters play on Saturday with a 6-3 record, winning its last two against Drexel and UMass-Lowell. The Friars defeated Drexel, 9-8, in overtime as Nick Hatzipetrakos netted the game winner.
Providence sophomore goalkeeper Tate Boyce was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for the second time this season after posting 14 saves and picking up seven ground balls against UMass Lowell on March 21, and recording another 14 save and three groundball game against Drexel on March 26. Boyce is currently ranked fifth in goals-against average (7.23) and seventh in save percentage (.599) across all Division 1 NCAA Lacrosse programs. Boyce was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST team.
The Friars have been led all season by a stout defense. Providence gives up 7.22 goals per game, good enough for the fourth-best scoring defense in NCAA Division I. The Friars also rank eighth in man-down defense at 76.7 percent and 15th in caused turnovers with eight per game.
UP NEXT
Next Tuesday, April 4, St. John's will host No. 19/20 Yale in a non-conference matchup at DaSilva Memorial Field at 3 p.m.
Keep up with Red Storm lacrosse all season long at RedStormSports.com and on Twitter by following @StJohnsLax and using the hashtag "#SJULAX."
