St. John's University Athletics
Friday, September 9
Queens, N.Y. (Belson Stadium)
7 p.m.
St. John's University
vs
Loyola Maryland
St. John’s Returns Home to Host Loyola Maryland on Friday
9/8/2022 1:18:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Red Storm and Greyhounds will kick off at 7 p.m. on FloFC
QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's men's soccer team will look to get back in the win column on Friday night when it plays host to Loyola Maryland at Belson Stadium. Kick-off against the defending Patriot League Champions is set for 7 p.m. on FloFC.
St. John's (1-3-0) returns to Queens following a 1-0 loss on Tuesday night at Indiana. The falter marked the team's third 1-0 defeat of the young season. In each of those three losses, the Red Storm, which received votes in this week's College Soccer News poll, managed to outshoot its opponent despite coming out on the wrong end of the result. The Johnnies outchanced the Hoosiers, the no. 15 national seed in last year's NCAA Tournament, by an 11-9 margin on the match, including a 9-4 edge in the second half. Four of the Red Storm's tries were on target. On Aug. 29 against then-No. 18 FIU, St. John's outshot the Panthers, 15-3, including a 9-0 margin in the second half alone. After winning in New York, FIU went to Chapel Hill and took down No. 13 North Carolina.
Through games played on Sept. 7, St. John's is one of 56 Division I teams that boasts a goals against average under 1.00. The Johnnies are the only team among those 56 with three losses and one of only four (UNLV, Old Dominion and Bowling Green) with a losing record.
The Red Storm will look to replicate the offensive output from its last match in Queens, as the Johnnies exploded for five goals in a shutout victory over Lehigh last Friday night. Three of those goals came off the foot of Antek Sienkiel, who recorded the first hat trick by a St. John's player since 2004. For his efforts, Sienkiel was named the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week, the first Johnnie to garner that accolade since Tani Oluwaseyi on Oct. 7, 2019. The 2021 Second Team All-MAAC selection at Marist also earned a spot on the TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week.
Wesley Leggett added a goal and an assist against the Mountain Hawks while Brandon Knapp scored his first of the year on a PK in the 30th minute. Miguel Diaz logged two assists in his collegiate debut and Drew Rosen added another helper for the Red Storm.
On Tuesday night in one of college soccer's toughest road environments, the Red Storm's Starting XI featured five freshmen in Zenden Hart, Markus Pusztahegyi, Miguel Diaz, Colin Veltri and Ricky Schissler. Hart has started each of the Johnnies' last three games in goal and boasts a 0.67 goals against average to go along with an .800 save percentage.
Loyola Maryland comes to Queens with a record of 2-1, after picking up back-to-back shutout victories over Delaware and Old Dominion. The Greyhounds' lone loss of the season came at NC State, 2-0, in their season opener on Aug. 26.
Last season, Loyola won the Patriot League regular season and tournament titles to earn an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time since 2009. The Greyhounds played North Carolina to a scoreless draw in the opening round before the Tar Heels advanced in penalty kicks.
Loyola was well-represented in the Patriot League's preseason awards, as Kelan Swales was named the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and Jordy Luchies was named the conference's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Swales, who scored eight goals in 2021, has found the back of the net in each of the Greyhounds last two games. The Leeds, England, native also dished out an assist against Delaware.
Queens native Alex Bobocea started each of the team's last two games in goal and helped the Greyhounds pitch a shutout in both contests.
St. John's and Loyola Maryland will meet for the sixth time in the history of the two programs on Friday night with the Johnnies looking to pick up their first win in the series.
The Greyhounds won the first match in 1983 before the teams played to a scoreless draw in 1997.
St. John's and Loyola played three consecutive seasons between 2016-18. The teams played to a 1-1 draw in 2016 at Belson Stadium before the Greyhounds recorded back-to-back 1-0 victories in 2017 and 2018.
Loyola is the only team in the NCAA to play St. John's three or more times and never suffer a loss.
St. John's (1-3-0) returns to Queens following a 1-0 loss on Tuesday night at Indiana. The falter marked the team's third 1-0 defeat of the young season. In each of those three losses, the Red Storm, which received votes in this week's College Soccer News poll, managed to outshoot its opponent despite coming out on the wrong end of the result. The Johnnies outchanced the Hoosiers, the no. 15 national seed in last year's NCAA Tournament, by an 11-9 margin on the match, including a 9-4 edge in the second half. Four of the Red Storm's tries were on target. On Aug. 29 against then-No. 18 FIU, St. John's outshot the Panthers, 15-3, including a 9-0 margin in the second half alone. After winning in New York, FIU went to Chapel Hill and took down No. 13 North Carolina.
Through games played on Sept. 7, St. John's is one of 56 Division I teams that boasts a goals against average under 1.00. The Johnnies are the only team among those 56 with three losses and one of only four (UNLV, Old Dominion and Bowling Green) with a losing record.
The Red Storm will look to replicate the offensive output from its last match in Queens, as the Johnnies exploded for five goals in a shutout victory over Lehigh last Friday night. Three of those goals came off the foot of Antek Sienkiel, who recorded the first hat trick by a St. John's player since 2004. For his efforts, Sienkiel was named the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week, the first Johnnie to garner that accolade since Tani Oluwaseyi on Oct. 7, 2019. The 2021 Second Team All-MAAC selection at Marist also earned a spot on the TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week.
Wesley Leggett added a goal and an assist against the Mountain Hawks while Brandon Knapp scored his first of the year on a PK in the 30th minute. Miguel Diaz logged two assists in his collegiate debut and Drew Rosen added another helper for the Red Storm.
On Tuesday night in one of college soccer's toughest road environments, the Red Storm's Starting XI featured five freshmen in Zenden Hart, Markus Pusztahegyi, Miguel Diaz, Colin Veltri and Ricky Schissler. Hart has started each of the Johnnies' last three games in goal and boasts a 0.67 goals against average to go along with an .800 save percentage.
Loyola Maryland comes to Queens with a record of 2-1, after picking up back-to-back shutout victories over Delaware and Old Dominion. The Greyhounds' lone loss of the season came at NC State, 2-0, in their season opener on Aug. 26.
Last season, Loyola won the Patriot League regular season and tournament titles to earn an NCAA Tournament berth for the first time since 2009. The Greyhounds played North Carolina to a scoreless draw in the opening round before the Tar Heels advanced in penalty kicks.
Loyola was well-represented in the Patriot League's preseason awards, as Kelan Swales was named the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and Jordy Luchies was named the conference's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. Swales, who scored eight goals in 2021, has found the back of the net in each of the Greyhounds last two games. The Leeds, England, native also dished out an assist against Delaware.
Queens native Alex Bobocea started each of the team's last two games in goal and helped the Greyhounds pitch a shutout in both contests.
St. John's and Loyola Maryland will meet for the sixth time in the history of the two programs on Friday night with the Johnnies looking to pick up their first win in the series.
The Greyhounds won the first match in 1983 before the teams played to a scoreless draw in 1997.
St. John's and Loyola played three consecutive seasons between 2016-18. The teams played to a 1-1 draw in 2016 at Belson Stadium before the Greyhounds recorded back-to-back 1-0 victories in 2017 and 2018.
Loyola is the only team in the NCAA to play St. John's three or more times and never suffer a loss.
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's Soccer
Goalkeeper
/ Men's Soccer
Midfielder/Defender
/ Men's Soccer
Forward
/ Men's Soccer
Forward/Midfielder
/ Men's Soccer
Defender
/ Men's Soccer
Forward
/ Men's Soccer
Midfielder/Defender
/ Men's Soccer
Midfielder/Defender
/ Men's Soccer
Forward/Defender
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