St. John’s Begins Crucial Road Swing at Villanova on Wednesday

Wednesday, October 24

Villanova, Pa. (Higgins Soccer Complex)

3:00 P.M.

St. John's University

Villanova

St. John’s Begins Crucial Road Swing at Villanova on Wednesday

10/23/2018 10:07:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Watch Live Stats Game Notes (PDF)

Red Storm will look to earn three points on the road for the first time this season

By: Andrew O'Connell

With two thirds of the 2018 conference campaign in the books, the St. John's men's soccer team will begin its final road swing of regular season on Wednesday, traveling to Villanova for a 3 p.m. match with the Wildcats. The game will be broadcast live on the BIG EAST Digital Network with Matt Janus on the call.

As one would expect at this time of year, Wednesday's match will have a tremendous impact on the BIG EAST standings and both teams' chance of securing a spot in the top six and a place in next weekend's conference tournament. The Johnnies (6-6-2, 2-2-2) currently sit in fifth place in the BIG EAST standings with eight points, one point ahead of Xavier in sixth and two points clear of Butler in seventh. DePaul (5 pts), Seton Hall (4 pts) and Villanova (3 pts) currently round out the bottom of the league ledger. All 10 BIG EAST squads will be in action on Wednesday. The Red Storm and the Wildcats will kick off the day's festivities at 3 p.m. before Xavier hosts DePaul, Seton Hall travels to Butler, and Providence welcomes Georgetown. All three of those matches with commence at 7 p.m. The day will conclude with another contest between teams in the top four of the BIG EAST standings, as Creighton plays host to Marquette at 8 p.m. After taking on the Wildcats the Johnnies will close out their regular season with games against Georgetown and Providence, who have combined for a record of 8-2-2 so far in BIG EAST play.

The Red Storm enters midweek action on the heels of a 2-2 draw with DePaul at Belson Stadium on Saturday night. Matt Forster and Skage Simonsen scored the goals for St. John's against the Blue Demons, as Forster opened up the scoring in the 62nd minute before Simonsen added a late marker to erase a one-goal deficit in the 81st.

For his efforts against DePaul, Forster earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for the third time this season. The junior midfielder ranks second in the conference with 16 points and is one off the league lead in both goals (6) and assists (4). With his sixth tally of the year against DePaul, Forster is now tied for the highest single-season goal total by a Red Storm player since 2008, when Nelson Becerra found the back of the net eight times and Trevor Chiduku scored seven times en route to the program's fourth appearance in the College Cup.

After registering his fifth goal and his fourth assist of the year against the Blue Demons on Saturday, Simonsen is now tied for fifth in the league with 14 points. With three regular season games still to go, the Bergen, Norway, native has turned in the program's highest point total by a freshman since 2006, when Ryan Soroka tallied nine goals and eight assists and was named the Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the BIG EAST Tournament.

Villanova, who was ranked as high as No. 13 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll earlier this season, comes into Wednesday's match with a record of 6-7-1, including a 1-5 mark in BIG EAST play. The Wildcats have lost four-straight since picking up their lone BIG EAST win of the season on Sept. 29 against DePaul.

The Wildcats feature two of the league's top two scorers, as Zach Zandi and Yusuf Cueceoglu rank among the BIG EAST leaders with six and five goals, respectively, on the season. No other member of the team has found the back of the net more than once this season.

Carson Williams has played every minute in goal for Villanova this season, compiling a 1.33 goals against average to go along with a .753 save percentage.

Villanova is the second-most frequently played opponent in the history of St. John's Men's Soccer, as the two teams are set to square off for the 38th time. The Johnnies carry a commanding 23-9-5 advantage all-time over the Wildcats heading into Wednesday's action. Last season, the Red Storm snapped a five-game winless streak against the Wildcats dating back to 2012, as Filippo Ricupati scored twice in a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory for the Johnnies at Belson Stadium.