Red Storm to Welcome Seton Hall on Saturday Night

QUEENS, N.Y. – After handing Villanova its first loss of conference play on the road this past Saturday, the St. John's men's soccer team will return home to host local rival Seton Hall on Saturday night at Belson Stadium.

Kick-off for the 44th meeting all-time between the Red Storm and Pirates is set for 7 p.m. on the BIG EAST Digital Network available on FloFC. Ralph Bednarczyk will have the call from Queens.

Entering that game with a record of 4-0-0 in BIG EAST play, Villanova was outplayed by the Red Storm before a Lucas Bartlett penalty kick gave St. John's the victory in the 92nd minute. On the afternoon, St. John's outshot the Wildcats, 13-6, including a 5-3 edge in tries on goal. Bartlett led the way with three shots for St. John's while Atila Ashrafi and Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau each added a pair. For his efforts, Bartlett was named to Monday's BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for the third time in the last four weeks. The graduate student from Overland Park, Kan., now leads the team in goals with four and is tied for the team lead in points with 11. The Drake transfer ranks eighth and ninth, respectively, in the BIG EAST for those categories.

Bartlett played all 92 minutes on the back line against Villanova, helping the Red Storm record a shutout for the seventh time this season and the fifth time in the team's last seven games. Through contests played on Tuesday, Luka Gavran leads the BIG EAST in both goals against average (0.57) and save percentage (.848) among keepers that have appeared in more than half of their team's games. Nationally, the redshirt junior from Hamilton, Ont., ranks ninth in goals against average and 10th in save percentage.

The win over Villanova garnered a bit of national recognition for the Johnnies, who received 22 votes in Tuesday's United Soccer Coaches poll, good enough for the fourth highest total among teams in the Others Receiving Votes category. In Monday's release of the RPI, the Johnnies checked in at no. 26.

St. John's enters Saturday's game ranked fourth in the BIG EAST standings with a 3-1-1 league record and 10 points. Undefeated Providence (4-0-2) leads the conference with 14 points after taking down No. 1 Georgetown on Wednesday in Rhode Island. The Hoyas (4-1-0) and Villanova (4-2-0) are tied for second in the league standings with 12 points apiece. The top six teams at the end of the regular season will qualify for the BIG EAST Men's Soccer Championship with the top two sides earning a bye to the tournament semifinals.

Seton Hall enters Saturday's showdown on the heels of its first BIG EAST win after downing DePaul, 1-0, on Wednesday afternoon in Chicago. Jordan Jowers provided the game-winner for the Pirates in the 81st minute. Despite the narrow one-goal margin of victory, Seton Hall outshot DePaul, 17-5, including a 5-0 edge in chances on target.

The Pirates, who opened the season ranked inside the top 10 of the United Soccer Coaches poll, went 4-0-2 during pre-conference play including a road win at NC State and a draw against then-No. 10 Virginia Tech. Wednesday's win, however, snapped a five-game losing streak for the Pirates, who dropped four straight to open conference play and lost an overtime decision at Fordham.

Last spring, Seton Hall won the BIG EAST Tournament for the first time in three decades before advancing to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament. The Pirates fell to eventual national runner-up Indiana in the round of eight.

This year's Pirates average more than two goals per game, having found the back of the net 25 times in 12 outings. Seton Hall, however, has also surrendered 25 goals over that same span, seven more than the next highest team in the league (Marquette, 18).

St. John's has played Seton Hall more than any other opponent in program history. Beginning with the first varsity season of soccer at St. John's in 1979, the Red Storm and the Pirates have met 43 times on the pitch with the Johnnies holding a 25-14-4 edge in the series.

Seton Hall has had the upper hand in the rivalry as of late, winning each of the two meetings last spring following a 1-1 draw in the fall of 2019. Prior to that, St. John's rattled off four straight 1-0 wins between 2015 and 2018.

Last spring's loss at Belson Stadium was a heartbreaker for the Johnnies, as the Red Storm led 2-0 after 55 minutes of play before losing, 3-2, in overtime. Jared Juleau and Wesley Leggett found the back of the net in that game for St. John's.

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Players Mentioned

Atila Ashrafi

Lucas Bartlett

Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau

Luka Gavran

Jared Juleau

Wesley Leggett

St. John's University Athletics