St. John's University Athletics
Saturday, October 2
Storrs, Conn. (Morrone Stadium)
7 p.m.
St. John's University
at
Connecticut
St. John’s to Resume BIG EAST Play at Connecticut on Saturday Night
10/1/2021 2:43:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Red Storm will look to extend its winning streak to seven games
QUEENS, N.Y. – After closing out the non-conference portion of its schedule with a win over Princeton on Tuesday night, the St. John's men's soccer team will resume BIG EAST play when it heads to Storrs for a Saturday showdown with Connecticut. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m. on the BIG EAST Digital Network on FloSports.
The Red Storm (7-2-0, 2-0-0 BIG EAST) carries a six-game winning streak into the latest edition of the BIG EAST's most revered soccer rivalry. A win over the Huskies would match the longest winning streak by a St. John's team in nearly two and a half decades, as the 2019 and 2006 Johnnies each rattled off seven-game winning streaks. The last winning streak in program history to stretch beyond seven matches came in 1997, when the Red Storm, fresh off a national title in 1996, tallied two separate eight-game winning streaks en route to an 18-4-2 final record. The longest string of consecutive victories in program history belongs to the 1993 squad, who rattled off 11 straight wins on its way to a second straight BIG EAST title.
Five of the Red Storm's last six wins, including each of the last four, have come via the clean sheet. Luka Gavran has played every second between the pipes this season for St. John's, compiling a 7-2-0 record with six shutouts, a 0.56 goals against average and an .853 save percentage, the last two of which both of which rank in the top 20 nationally. Two Johnnies, Matt Chandler and Lucas Bartlett, have started all nine games on the Red Storm backline.
Each of the Red Storm's last three wins has followed a similar script. During the team's BIG EAST opener at Xavier, the two sides were scoreless for more than 70 minutes before a Brandon Knapp goal provided the game-winner in a 1-0 decision. Against Creighton, Wesley Leggett broke a scoreless deadlock in the 70th minute before Atila Ashrafi added an insurance goal in the 79th. In the team's most recent outing at Princeton, Micaah Garnette scored in the 79th minute to lift the Red Storm to a 1-0 win. This season, St. John's is 6-0 when leading at the 75th minute and 7-1-0 when scoring first.
Entering the weekend, St. John's is one of three teams in the BIG EAST sitting with a conference record of 2-0-0 alongside Providence and Villanova. Georgetown and DePaul are also perfect in league action, but have only played one game. UConn is one of four BIG EAST squads to drop each of their first two league contests along with Xavier, Creighton and Seton Hall.
UConn welcomes the Red Storm for its conference home opener on Saturday night, the Huskies' first BIG EAST game with fans at Morrone Stadium since 2012.
The Huskies enter the contest with a record of 4-3-0 on the season with all four of their victories coming in Storrs.
Freshman Okem Chime has been the Huskies' leading scorer on the campaign, finding the back of the net three times, including a two-goal performance in the team's season opener against Bryant. Sophomore Jayden Reid is tied for the team lead in points, entering the weekend with one goal and four assists.
Fairleigh Dickinson transfer Jahmali Waite has started all seven games between the pipes for UConn, turning in four clean sheets with a 0.56 goals against average and a .765 save percentage. He currently sits at 20th in the national rankings for GAA, one spot behind Gavran.
Two of the most successful teams in the country over the last three decades, St. John's and Connecticut are the two most decorated programs in the history of the conference. Since 1983, the Red Storm has won a league-record nine BIG EAST Tournament titles while the Huskies have won seven. No other program has won more than five. While the Red Storm owns the conference record for postseason crowns, UConn's 12 BIG EAST Regular Season titles are the highest total in league history. Both programs have also won a national championship, as the Johnnies took home the NCAA title in 1996, four years before UConn won it all in 2000.
In their matches as league opponents since 2012 last spring, the Johnnies swept the regular season series from the Huskies. St. John's topped UConn, 2-0, on March 3 at Belson Stadium, 17 days before taking a 1-0 victory in Storrs. Einar Lye tallied a goal and an assist in those two games.
Overall, St. John's owns a 17-14-5 advantage all-time over the Huskies. The home side has been dominant throughout the rivalry's history, as St. John's is 10-1-4 against UConn in Queens, but only 6-12-1 in Storrs.
The Red Storm (7-2-0, 2-0-0 BIG EAST) carries a six-game winning streak into the latest edition of the BIG EAST's most revered soccer rivalry. A win over the Huskies would match the longest winning streak by a St. John's team in nearly two and a half decades, as the 2019 and 2006 Johnnies each rattled off seven-game winning streaks. The last winning streak in program history to stretch beyond seven matches came in 1997, when the Red Storm, fresh off a national title in 1996, tallied two separate eight-game winning streaks en route to an 18-4-2 final record. The longest string of consecutive victories in program history belongs to the 1993 squad, who rattled off 11 straight wins on its way to a second straight BIG EAST title.
Five of the Red Storm's last six wins, including each of the last four, have come via the clean sheet. Luka Gavran has played every second between the pipes this season for St. John's, compiling a 7-2-0 record with six shutouts, a 0.56 goals against average and an .853 save percentage, the last two of which both of which rank in the top 20 nationally. Two Johnnies, Matt Chandler and Lucas Bartlett, have started all nine games on the Red Storm backline.
Each of the Red Storm's last three wins has followed a similar script. During the team's BIG EAST opener at Xavier, the two sides were scoreless for more than 70 minutes before a Brandon Knapp goal provided the game-winner in a 1-0 decision. Against Creighton, Wesley Leggett broke a scoreless deadlock in the 70th minute before Atila Ashrafi added an insurance goal in the 79th. In the team's most recent outing at Princeton, Micaah Garnette scored in the 79th minute to lift the Red Storm to a 1-0 win. This season, St. John's is 6-0 when leading at the 75th minute and 7-1-0 when scoring first.
Entering the weekend, St. John's is one of three teams in the BIG EAST sitting with a conference record of 2-0-0 alongside Providence and Villanova. Georgetown and DePaul are also perfect in league action, but have only played one game. UConn is one of four BIG EAST squads to drop each of their first two league contests along with Xavier, Creighton and Seton Hall.
UConn welcomes the Red Storm for its conference home opener on Saturday night, the Huskies' first BIG EAST game with fans at Morrone Stadium since 2012.
The Huskies enter the contest with a record of 4-3-0 on the season with all four of their victories coming in Storrs.
Freshman Okem Chime has been the Huskies' leading scorer on the campaign, finding the back of the net three times, including a two-goal performance in the team's season opener against Bryant. Sophomore Jayden Reid is tied for the team lead in points, entering the weekend with one goal and four assists.
Fairleigh Dickinson transfer Jahmali Waite has started all seven games between the pipes for UConn, turning in four clean sheets with a 0.56 goals against average and a .765 save percentage. He currently sits at 20th in the national rankings for GAA, one spot behind Gavran.
Two of the most successful teams in the country over the last three decades, St. John's and Connecticut are the two most decorated programs in the history of the conference. Since 1983, the Red Storm has won a league-record nine BIG EAST Tournament titles while the Huskies have won seven. No other program has won more than five. While the Red Storm owns the conference record for postseason crowns, UConn's 12 BIG EAST Regular Season titles are the highest total in league history. Both programs have also won a national championship, as the Johnnies took home the NCAA title in 1996, four years before UConn won it all in 2000.
In their matches as league opponents since 2012 last spring, the Johnnies swept the regular season series from the Huskies. St. John's topped UConn, 2-0, on March 3 at Belson Stadium, 17 days before taking a 1-0 victory in Storrs. Einar Lye tallied a goal and an assist in those two games.
Overall, St. John's owns a 17-14-5 advantage all-time over the Huskies. The home side has been dominant throughout the rivalry's history, as St. John's is 10-1-4 against UConn in Queens, but only 6-12-1 in Storrs.
Players Mentioned
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Goalkeeper
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Midfielder/Defender
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Forward
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