St. John's Travels to Take on No. 2 Georgetown

The St. John's men's soccer team will return to action in the nation's capital on Wednesday afternoon, taking on No. 2 Georgetown in a matinee at Shaw Field. Kick-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. on the BIG EAST Digital Network with Dan Helfrich on the call.

The Red Storm will face its third ranked opponent of the season when it steps onto the pitch with the 2019 national champions. While the Johnnies are still looking for their first result of the year against a ranked foe, both of the previous two decisions were closely contested. In the season opener on Aug. 26, St. John's led then-No. 6 Clemson for more than 55 minutes before the Tigers escaped with a 2-1 victory at Historic Riggs Field. Earlier this month at Belson Stadium, St. John's and then-No. 25 Providence played more than 100 scoreless minutes before Paulo Lima scored off a corner kick and snapped a seven-game unbeaten streak for the Red Storm.

After playing Seton Hall to a scoreless draw on Saturday night, the Red Storm has now gone into overtime in four straight matches. The Johnnies are 1-1-2 in those contests with the victory coming on the road against Villanova. The Red Storm's four-game overtime streak is the first for the Johnnies since 2009, when St. John's tied a single-season NCAA record for draws by going 9-3-9. That season, the Red Storm also won the program's eighth BIG EAST Tournament title. St. John's also logged four-game overtime streaks in 1996 and 2000, but has never had five straight games go more than 90 minutes.

The Red Storm's Saturday shutout of the Pirates marked the team's eighth clean sheet of the season in just 13 opportunities. As a result, the individual accolades continued to roll in for the Red Storm backline, as Matt Chandler earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for the first time this season. Graduate student Lucas Bartlett, the team's starting right back and leading scorer, had received an honor roll nod in three of the previous four weeks. Bartlett logged another individual honor on Monday, checking in at no. 94 on the TopDrawerSoccer Midseason Top 100.

Luka Gavran has played every minute between the pipes for St. John's this season. The redshirt junior from Hamilton, Ont., leads the BIG EAST and ranks among the top 10 in the nation for both goals against average (0.51) and save percentage (.851). His eight shutouts are tied for the 10th highest single-season total in program history and are the most since Andrew Withers recorded eight in 20 opportunities during the 2017 campaign.

Georgetown enters Wednesday's contest with a record of 11-1 on the year, winning 10 straight decisions to start the season before a 3-0 loss at Providence on Oct. 13. The Hoyas rebounded from that loss on Saturday, downing Villanova, 3-1, in D.C. Georgetown has outscored the opposition, 25-9, on the season, good enough for the nation's 19th best goal differential.

The Hoyas are led offensively by junior forward Stefan Stojanovic, who has scored a team-high six goals on the season. Dante Polvara, a First Team All-American in 2020-21, ranks second on the squad in point production with four goals and four assists on the campaign.

Georgetown has employed two keepers on The Hilltop this season. Giannis Nikopolidis has started all but one BIG EAST game, compiling a 7-1-0 record and a 1.00 goals against average. The two-time BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year and First Team All-American has recorded three of the Hoyas' six shutouts.

Georgetown and St. John's will meet for the 39th time on Wednesday afternoon with the Red Storm holding a 23-12-3 in the series history.

Despite the Hoyas recent national prominence, the series has been fairly even as of late. Before the Hoyas swept a pair of 1-0 decisions in the spring, the two teams had split the last four games in the series, including a 1-0 St. John's win in Washington in October of 2018.

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Players Mentioned

Lucas Bartlett

Matt Chandler

Luka Gavran

St. John's University Athletics