Red Storm Adds Tuesday Match with Stony Brook

Tuesday, February 23

Queens, N.Y. (Belson Stadium)

2 p.m.

St. John's University

Stony Brook

2/22/2021 1:50:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Watch Live Stats Game Notes (PDF)Media Guide (PDF)

St. John’s to host Seawolves at 2 p.m. on ESPN3

By: Andrew O'Connell

After seeing two of its non-conference matches postponed or canceled last week due to COVID issues within opposing programs, the St. John's men's soccer team has added an out-of-league contest prior to Saturday's BIG EAST opener, as the No. 15 Red Storm will welcome Stony Brook to Belson Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. Kick-off is set for 2 p.m. and the game will air on ESPN3.

St. John's was originally scheduled to play Fordham on Feb. 18, but that match was postponed after the Rams announced a two-week pause on all athletic activities due to high rates of COVID infection on campus. The Johnnies were then set to face NJIT on Sunday before a positive test within the Highlanders program forced the cancelation of the contest.

The Johnnies, who rank 15th in the College Soccer News Top 30 and 24th according to TopDrawerSoccer, enter the match with a record of 1-0-0 after taking down Saint Joseph's, 1-0, in their season opener Feb. 15. Tani Oluwaseyi, the Preseason BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year, delivered the game-winner, finding the back of the net in the 64th minute for his first goal of the season. Last season, Oluwaseyi became the first St. John's player in nearly 25 years to be named the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year after scoring 11 goals and dishing out five assists. The first Johnnie since 2003 to score double-digit goals in a season, Oluwaseyi led the BIG EAST in scoring and finished second in points.

Oluwaseyi was one of three Johnnies to earn Preseason All-BIG EAST recognition this spring, as Brandon Knapp and Einar Lye also found a spot on the preseason all-league team. Knapp wasted no time getting his name on the score sheet in 2021, providing the primary assist on Oluwaseyi's game winner with a precision pass through traffic to find his teammate. Junior Ethan Shaw, who played all 90 minutes in the season opener, also picked up an assist on the play.

As they did for almost all of last season, Jan Hoffelner and Luka Gavran split the goaltending duties for St. John's against the Hawks. Hoffelner made two saves in the opening 45 minutes before Gavran recorded three stops in the second half. The clean sheet marked the ninth time in 19 tries that the pair has pitched a combined shutout for the Red Storm.

Originally scheduled to open this season against Fordham on Sunday, Stony Brook will make its 2021 debut when it takes the field at Belson Stadium.
Last season, the Seawolves went 4-11-2, including a 1-6-0 mark in America East play. Stony Brook was picked to finish eighth out of nine teams this spring in a preseason poll of the league's coaches.

Stony Brook lost its top two players in terms of point production from last season to graduation in Jared Dass (6G, 0A) and Mark Irvine (1G, 3A). No other member of the Seawolves recorded more than one goal or one assist in 2019.

St. John's and Stony Brook have met just one time in the history of the two programs, playing to a scoreless draw on Sept. 11, 2009, at Belson Stadium. The Red Storm went on to win its eighth BIG EAST title that spring, finishing 9-3-9 and matching a single-season NCAA record for draws.

The Red Storm is set to begin the BIG EAST portion of its schedule on Saturday when it travels to Seton Hall for a 3 p.m. match against the Pirates at Owen T. Carroll Field.