No. 8 St. John’s Clinches BIG EAST Bye with 4-2 Win over DePaul

Saturday, November 2

Queens, N.Y. (Belson Stadium)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

13-2-1, 6-1-1

DePaul

5-8-3, 1-4-3

DePaul

St. John's

Drew Rosen celebrates his first goal as a Johnnie.

No. 8 St. John’s Clinches BIG EAST Bye with 4-2 Win over DePaul

11/2/2019 10:48:00 PM | Men's Soccer

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Johnnies wrap up no. 2 seed in BIG EAST Tournament with victory

By: Andrew O'Connell

QUEENS, N.Y. (Nov. 2, 2019) – In need of three points to secure a top-two seed in this month's BIG EAST Tournament, the No. 8 St. John's men's soccer team dominated from start to finish on Saturday night at Belson Stadium, downing DePaul by a score of 4-2.

With the win, the Red Storm, who ranked third in this week's edition of the RPI, improved to 13-2-1 on the campaign and 6-1-1 in BIG EAST play. No teams below St. John's in the BIG EAST standings can catch the Red Storm with just one game remaining, assuring a no. 2 seed for the Johnnies in the conference tournament. St. John's could tie Georgetown (14-1-1, 7-0-1 BIG EAST) for a share of the regular season title, but the Hoyas would earn the tournament's top seed by virtue of their win at Belson Stadium on Oct. 23. The Red Storm will host its semifinal game at Belson Stadium on Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. against a yet-to-be-determined foe.

"DePaul's a really good team, they've played everybody tight," said Dr. Dave Masur following the win. "They've have a very high RPI and every game they've had has been a one-goal game, so we thought we were going to be in a real battle and we were. We had great ball movement and I thought we were selfless. We just have to keep pursuing and everybody's got to work in practice, stay with it and keep our heads up and keep pushing for us to become a better team."

The Red Storm recorded four goals for the third time in BIG EAST play and three or more goals for the fourth time in eight tries in conference. On the season, St. John's now has 35 goals in just 16 games, the program's highest total since the College Cup team of 2008 scored 39 times in 25 games.

Tani Oluwaseyi bumped his league-leading goal total on the season to 10, becoming the first St. John's player to reach double digit goals since Simone Salinno found the back of the net 14 times during the national runner-up campaign of 2003. Oluwaseyi also assisted on the Red Storm's final goal of the night to increase his point total to 24.

Brandon Duarte, Einar Lye and Drew Rosen also etched their names on the score sheet. Duarte headed home the team's second goal right after halftime while Lye provided the game-winner on a penalty kick in the 55^th. Rosen netted his first career goal in the 67^th, becoming the 14^th different member of the Red Storm to score a goal this season.

Jared Juleau recorded assists on the Red Storm's first and second goals of the evening. Skage Simonsen also registered his team-leading sixth helper of the season on Oluwaseyi's opening marker. Five of Simonsen's six assists have now been on goals scored by Oluwaseyi.

Jan Hoffelner picked up the win between the pipes, lowering his goals against average to 0.47 with 45 scoreless minutes in the first half and improving to 7-1-0 on the season.

St. John's outshot DePaul on the evening by a margin of 22-5, including a 14-4 edge in chances on goal. The Johnnies also earned a whopping 17 corner kicks while the Blue Demons managed just one.

St. John's controlled the possession battle early in the contest against a pragmatic and deliberate DePaul squad, but did not register its first shot until the 15^th minute of action.

After a few more St. John's chances that failed to produce a goal, the Red Storm broke through in the 35^th minute. The sequence began with a Juleau throw-in from the left sideline that found the feet of Simonsen. The sophomore then sent a pinpoint pass toward the six-yard box for Oluwaseyi, who played the ball down with his chest, evaded a defender and blasted a left-footed shot under the bar.

Following the intermission, the Red Storm wasted no time building its lead. The Johnnies earned a corner kick just a minute into the action, allowing Juleau to send a left-footed in-swinger to the far post for Duarte. The senior headed it with authority into the back of the net, bumping the St. John's advantage to two.

A long shot for DePaul Jake Fuderer found its way into the cage in the 53^rd minute, bringing the Blue Demons within one, 2-1.

The Red Storm responded almost immediately, as Juleau drew a foul in the box and was rewarded with a penalty kick in the 55^th minute. Lye converted on the opportunity with ease, sending Drew Nuelle diving in the wrong direction and padding the St. John's lead to a pair, 3-1.

Just over 10 minutes later, Oluwaseyi and Rosen teamed up to tally the Johnnies fourth goal of the night. Oluwaseyi took a pass from Juleau on the left side and rocketed one on net, where it hit off the head of Nuelle before deflecting off the crossbar and finding Rosen. Rosen then collected the rebound and stuffed it home.

DePaul would score again in the 79^th minute, but St. John's held on for the 4-2 victory.

The Red Storm will close out the regular season on Wednesday night, traveling to Providence for a 7 p.m. contest with the Friars on the BIG EAST Digital Network. The Johnnies could still clinch a share of the BIG EAST Regular Season Championship with a win should Georgetown lose at home to Creighton on Wednesday afternoon. St. John's has won six BIG EAST Regular Season titles in its history to go along with nine conference tournament crowns.