St. John's University Athletics
Monday, August 29
Queens, N.Y. (Belson Stadium)
7 p.m.
St. John's University
vs
No. 18 Florida International
St. John’s to Welcome No. 18 FIU for Monday Home Opener
8/28/2022 12:32:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Red Storm will look to win its fifth straight Belson Stadium debut
QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's men's soccer team will open its 2022 home slate with a Monday night tilt against No. 18 Florida International at Belson Stadium. Kick-off for the rematch of the 1996 national championship game is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN3 with Ralph Bednarczyk on the call.
Tickets can be purchased by clicking here or calling 1-888-GO-STORM. Fans can also purchase tickets at the St. John's Ticket Office beginning one hour prior to kick-off. Admission is free for all St. John's students with a valid StormCard.
The Red Storm (0-1-0) will look to bounce back from a season-opening loss by winning its fifth consecutive home-opener. In hosting the 18th-ranked Panthers (0-1-0), who won the 2021 C-USA Regular Season title and claimed the no. 13 seed in last fall's NCAA Tournament, the Red Storm will welcome its first ranked non-conference opponent to Belson Stadium since playing then-No. 19 Denver on Sept. 12, 2015. The Johnnies will look to defeat a ranked non-conference foe in Queens for the first time since taking down No. 5 Akron on Sept. 6, 2013.
Beginning with Monday's match, six of the Red Storm's next eight contests will be against teams that qualified for the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
St. John's began its 2022 campaign with a 1-0 road loss on Thursday night at Monmouth. Despite coming out on the wrong end of the result, St. John's controlled the possession game for a majority of the contest and outshot the Hawks, 8-6. Additionally, corner kicks were 6-2 in favor of the Johnnies.
Of the Red Storm's starting XI against Monmouth, only four players had ever earned a start for St. John's prior to Thursday night. The other seven, four of whom were transfers, were making their Red Storm debut. One of those transfers, Antek Sienkiel, tallied a game-high three shots in the loss. Last season at Marist, Sienkiel earned Second Team All-MAAC honors.
Senior Wesley Leggett played 62 minutes as a reserve in the season opener while freshmen Juston Rainey and Ricky Schissler logged 57 and 42 minutes, respectively. In total, five freshmen saw action on Thursday night, as Markus Pusztahegyi and Elias Brox played 90 minutes on the backline and Colin Veltri recorded 10 minutes in his first collegiate game.
Redshirt sophomore Ryan Foley made his St. John's debut in goal, tallying two saves. None of the five goalkeepers on the Red Storm's roster had seen Division I action prior to this season, as the Johnnies look to replace the production of All-American Luka Gavran. Gavran, the 2021 BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year, was selected 31st overall in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft by Toronto FC.
FIU comes to Queens following a 5-3 home loss to Akron on Thursday night to open the season. The Panthers outshot the Zips, 14-12, but nine of Akron's 12 chances were on target.
The Panthers were picked to finish third in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll and placed three players on the preseason all-conference team: Stephen Afrifa, Matteo Gasperoni and Bernardo Dos Santos Monteiro. Afrifa, the team's leading scorer from a year ago with eight goals, found the back of the net against Akron. Fumiya Shiraishi and Paulo Alves each recorded a goal and an assist for the Panthers in Thursday's season opener.
Freshman Kevin Harr and senior Tyler Hogan split time in the cage on Thursday. Harr gave up three goals while Hogan surrendered two. Both keepers logged a pair of saves.
Despite having not met on the pitch in nearly two decades, St. John's and FIU share a rich series history.
The teams first met on a neutral site at Rutgers in October of 1994, a 4-2 victory for the Panthers. Two years later on Oct. 27, 1996, in Miami, FIU handed St. John's its second loss of the season. The Red Storm would not lose another game the rest of the way, as Dr. Dave Masur led the Johnnies to the first national championship in school history. In the title match, the Red Storm faced a familiar foe, defeating the Panthers, 4-1.
The two teams met again at Rutgers in 1997, a 2-1 overtime victory for the Panthers. St. John's then won three straight in a span of four seasons against FIU from 2000-03 before the Panthers won the last meeting, 2-1, on Oct. 29, 2004.
The teams enter Monday night with a 4-4 record all-time against one another.
Tickets can be purchased by clicking here or calling 1-888-GO-STORM. Fans can also purchase tickets at the St. John's Ticket Office beginning one hour prior to kick-off. Admission is free for all St. John's students with a valid StormCard.
The Red Storm (0-1-0) will look to bounce back from a season-opening loss by winning its fifth consecutive home-opener. In hosting the 18th-ranked Panthers (0-1-0), who won the 2021 C-USA Regular Season title and claimed the no. 13 seed in last fall's NCAA Tournament, the Red Storm will welcome its first ranked non-conference opponent to Belson Stadium since playing then-No. 19 Denver on Sept. 12, 2015. The Johnnies will look to defeat a ranked non-conference foe in Queens for the first time since taking down No. 5 Akron on Sept. 6, 2013.
Beginning with Monday's match, six of the Red Storm's next eight contests will be against teams that qualified for the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
St. John's began its 2022 campaign with a 1-0 road loss on Thursday night at Monmouth. Despite coming out on the wrong end of the result, St. John's controlled the possession game for a majority of the contest and outshot the Hawks, 8-6. Additionally, corner kicks were 6-2 in favor of the Johnnies.
Of the Red Storm's starting XI against Monmouth, only four players had ever earned a start for St. John's prior to Thursday night. The other seven, four of whom were transfers, were making their Red Storm debut. One of those transfers, Antek Sienkiel, tallied a game-high three shots in the loss. Last season at Marist, Sienkiel earned Second Team All-MAAC honors.
Senior Wesley Leggett played 62 minutes as a reserve in the season opener while freshmen Juston Rainey and Ricky Schissler logged 57 and 42 minutes, respectively. In total, five freshmen saw action on Thursday night, as Markus Pusztahegyi and Elias Brox played 90 minutes on the backline and Colin Veltri recorded 10 minutes in his first collegiate game.
Redshirt sophomore Ryan Foley made his St. John's debut in goal, tallying two saves. None of the five goalkeepers on the Red Storm's roster had seen Division I action prior to this season, as the Johnnies look to replace the production of All-American Luka Gavran. Gavran, the 2021 BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year, was selected 31st overall in the 2022 MLS SuperDraft by Toronto FC.
FIU comes to Queens following a 5-3 home loss to Akron on Thursday night to open the season. The Panthers outshot the Zips, 14-12, but nine of Akron's 12 chances were on target.
The Panthers were picked to finish third in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll and placed three players on the preseason all-conference team: Stephen Afrifa, Matteo Gasperoni and Bernardo Dos Santos Monteiro. Afrifa, the team's leading scorer from a year ago with eight goals, found the back of the net against Akron. Fumiya Shiraishi and Paulo Alves each recorded a goal and an assist for the Panthers in Thursday's season opener.
Freshman Kevin Harr and senior Tyler Hogan split time in the cage on Thursday. Harr gave up three goals while Hogan surrendered two. Both keepers logged a pair of saves.
Despite having not met on the pitch in nearly two decades, St. John's and FIU share a rich series history.
The teams first met on a neutral site at Rutgers in October of 1994, a 4-2 victory for the Panthers. Two years later on Oct. 27, 1996, in Miami, FIU handed St. John's its second loss of the season. The Red Storm would not lose another game the rest of the way, as Dr. Dave Masur led the Johnnies to the first national championship in school history. In the title match, the Red Storm faced a familiar foe, defeating the Panthers, 4-1.
The two teams met again at Rutgers in 1997, a 2-1 overtime victory for the Panthers. St. John's then won three straight in a span of four seasons against FIU from 2000-03 before the Panthers won the last meeting, 2-1, on Oct. 29, 2004.
The teams enter Monday night with a 4-4 record all-time against one another.
Players Mentioned
Defender
/ Men's Soccer
Goalkeeper
/ Men's Soccer
Goalkeeper
/ Men's Soccer
Forward
/ Men's Soccer
Defender
/ Men's Soccer
Midfielder
/ Men's Soccer
Midfielder/Defender
/ Men's Soccer
Midfielder/Defender
/ Men's Soccer
Forward/Defender
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