No. 4 St. John’s Draws with Seton Hall, 1-1

Saturday, October 26

South Orange, N.J. (Owen T. Carroll Field)

6 p.m.

St. John's University

12-2-1, 5-1-1

Seton Hall

5-7-1, 2-4-1

St. John's

Seton Hall

Photos from the team's 3-0 loss to Georgetown on Oct. 23.

10/26/2019 9:35:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Tani Oluwaseyi scored his ninth goal of the season in the tie

By: Andrew O'Connell

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (Oct. 26, 2019) – Kicking off the home stretch of the BIG EAST regular season on Saturday night at Owen T. Carroll Field, the no.4 St. John's men's soccer team picked up a crucial point in the standings with a 1-1 draw against local rival Seton Hall.

St. John's moved to 12-2-1 on the season with the tie, including a 5-1-1 record in BIG EAST play. With two games to go, the Red Storm sits in second place in the BIG EAST standings, three points behind Georgetown and four points clear of Providence in third. With the draw, the Red Storm has officially clinched a spot in the BIG EAST Tournament for the third straight season. A win for the Johnnies in either of their remaining regular season matches would secure a bye to the semifinals. St. John's would also lock up a semifinal date at Belson Stadium should Xavier come away with a result against the Friars next Saturday in Cincinnati.

Tani Oluwaseyi scored the lone goal of the game for St. John's, putting the Red Storm ahead 1-0 with a header in the 50^th minute. Brandon Duarte and Matt Chandler picked up assists on Oluwaseyi's ninth tally of the year. The sophomore from Mississauga, Ont., who leads the league in both goals and points, has become the first St. John's player since Ryan Soroka during the BIG EAST Championship season of 2006 to record nine goals in a single campaign.

St. John's outshot Seton Hall on the match by a margin 15-12. Six of those shots came off the foot of Oluwaseyi while Skage Simonsen had four of his own.

Oluwaseyi came inches away of giving the Red Storm a lead in the 13^th minute, corralling a Jared Juleau cross from the left side on the near edge of the six-yard box and sending a try just wide of the far post.

Juleau managed to somehow miss by an even narrower margin in the 31^st, ringing a shot off the left post from 10 yards out.

Simonsen registered a pair of shots in the closing minutes of the opening stanza, but neither found its target and the two teams went into the intermission scoreless.

At the break, St. John's held a 4-2 advantage in shots, but neither side managed to put one of those tries on net.

The Red Storm finally broke through early in the second half. The scoring sequence began when Drew Rosen drew a foul approximately 35 yards away from the goal on the right side of the pitch. The foul set up a free kick for Duarte, who played a ball to the far post intended for the 6-foot-6 Chandler. The sophomore defender headed it across the mouth of the goal toward Oluwaseyi, who finished in front and put the Johnnies on top.

Seton Hall tied it in the 76^th minute following a corner kick, as Eden O'Leary headed one past Luka Gavran to knot the score at 1 apiece.

The Pirates goal was bookended by narrow misses from Oluwaseyi, as the sophomore came incredibly close to registering his brace on chances in the 69^th and 79th minutes.

The Johnnies recorded one more scoring chance in the closing minutes of regulation, as Einar Lye headed a ball over the bar in 88^th minute.

Oluwaseyi nearly ended the game less than a minute into extra time, but Seton Hall goalkeeper Andreas Nota punched his header over the top and kept the Pirates alive.

Gavran came up with an equally huge stop later in the period, stoning Carlton McKenzie from point blank range on the rush in the 98^th minute.

Both sides recorded a shot in the final 10-minute overtime period before ending the contest in a 1-1 draw.

St. John's will play its final regular season game at Belson Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 2, when the Johnnies welcome DePaul for a 7 p.m. first kick. The contest will serve as the Red Storm's annual senior night, honoring the career achievements of student-athletes in their final year with the program.