St. John’s Topples LIU for First Road Victory, 17-15

Saturday, February 22

Brookville, N.Y. / Bethpage Stadium

1 P.M.

St. John's University

2-2, 0-0Big East

LIU

0-3, 0-0NEC

ST. JOHN'S

Long Island

St. John’s Topples LIU for First Road Victory, 17-15

2/22/2020 5:25:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Jonathan Huber’s five goals carry the Red Storm to its second-consecutive victory

By: Nicholas Diamantis

BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Feb. 22, 2020) – Despite a comeback push in the fourth quarter which saw LIU score six goals, the St. John's men's lacrosse team claimed its second-straight victory of the season at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium on Saturday, defeating the LIU Sharks, 17-15.

The victory on Saturday sealed the Johnnies' first road triumph of the season. The Red Storm's two-goal victory over LIU is the first win against the local foe since April 18, 1992.

St. John's (2-2) outshot Long Island 50-42 in Saturday's win and set a season-high with its six goals in seven man-up opportunities.

Redshirt sophomore Jonathan Huber led the Johnnies with five goals, marking the third consecutive game a Red Storm player has finished a game with five goals. Ryan Schaeffer and Mike Madsen fired three goals and combined for nine points. Dylan Willis and Joe Madsen each added two tallies to catapult the Johnnies past the Sharks for its second win of the season.

Matt Oehl scored his first goal of the 2020 campaign and dished three assists in the first half. Grant Galligan scored his second goal of the season in the third quarter during one of St. John's seven man-up opportunities.

Sophomore goalkeeper Brody Agres earned his second win of the season and the sixth of his career, stopping 12 shots in the winning effort.

Freshman faceoff specialist Jonathan Dugenio registered his fourth consecutive game with double-digit faceoff wins, claiming 20 of his 34 attempts from the X. Senior Colin Bosak won his second faceoff of the season in his lone attempt against the Sharks.

Long Island (0-3) was led by Richie LaCalandra and Will Snelders, each scoring three goals. Nick Grassa, Alex Russell, and Jake Gillis each added two tallies in the losing effort. Goalkeeper Will Mark registered 15 saves in the loss.

The Johnnies maintained control of the game early in the first quarter, firing goals in six of its 13 shot attempts. Willis and Huber scored the first two goals of the game, giving the Johnnies an early 2-0 advantage with over 10 minutes left. LIU answered with two goals within a minute two tie the contest at two goals apiece at the 6:45 mark. The Red Storm closed the opening frame with four-straight tallies, all scored by different players (Mike Madsen, Oehl, Huber, Schaeffer).

St. John's would keep its foot on the gas pedal, scoring three of the first four goals in the second period to jump to a 9-3 lead with nine mutes left in the half. Huber added his second and third goals off of assists from Willis and Oehl to eclipse his season-high in scoring. LIU ended the Johnnies' scoring run with two goals from Dan Foley and Ryan Blume to cut the lead to 9-5. Huber would score his fifth and final goal of the contest with 1:31 left in the half to the Red Storm its 10^th goal of the game. Richie LaCalandra added a late goal before the end of the half to bring LIU within four goals at the intermission.

St. John's and LIU each traded goals over the first eight minutes of the third period. Five man-up opportunities in the third frame sparked another St. John's scoring run. Schaeffer and Joe Madsen fired two goals apiece and Mike Madsen added the other to give the Red Storm its largest lead of the afternoon at 16-8.

Despite the eight-goal deficit, the Sharks refused to quit, exploding for a five-goal scoring run over the first six and a half minutes of the fourth quarter. With 5:52 left in the game, Mike Madsen rifled a crucial goal for the Red Storm, temporarily stopping the bleeding at 17-13. The late goal in the fourth quarter marked Madsen's 100^th career point, becoming just the 12^th Johnnie in program history to reach the century mark. LIU responded with two late goals to cut the Red Storm's lead to two at 17-15, with three minutes left. The Johnnies defense stepped up late, blocking a Richie LaCalandra shot which led to a late penalty, shutting the door on the Sharks and sealing St. John's second win in February.

The Red Storm returns to action next weekend in Ann Arbor, Mich., for the first time in program history, as St. John's will battle Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 29, at 3 p.m. ET.