St. John’s Drops Heartbreaker to No. 12/11 Denver, 12-10

Saturday, April 15

Queens, N.Y. (Belson Stadium)

11 a.m.

St. John's University

0-12

No. 12/11 Denver

7-4

Denver

St. John's

Caiden Vlasimsky tallied a career-high five points with four goals and one assist against Denver.

Brian Kelly found the back of the net twice on Saturday in Queens.

Jack Lutfi scores a tough goal through traffic in the third quarter against the Pioneers.

Sean Duffy registered an assist, a groundball and two shots on goal in his 12th start of the season.

Bobby Seel scored his seventh goal of the season against Denver on Saturday afternoon.

Connor Kalmus logged a goal and an assist for his eighth multi-point effort of the 2023 campaign.

Caleb Zuhoski tallied a helper, his 10th of the season, against Denver.

St. John’s Drops Heartbreaker to No. 12/11 Denver, 12-10

4/15/2023 2:32:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Photo Gallery

Red Storm led for the majority of first-ever game at Belson Stadium

QUEENS, N.Y. — In this first-ever game at Belson Stadium, the St. John's lacrosse team battled hard and narrowly fell to the Denver Pioneers, 12-10, on Saturday afternoon.

The Red Storm led for the majority of the game but were outlasted in the late stages of the contest when Denver scored twice in the final five minutes of action.

Caiden Vlasimsky scored a career-high four goals and totaled five points on Saturday, including three in the opening half.

Brian Kelly added a pair of goals while Trevor Batastini, Connor Kalmus, Jack Lutfi and Bobby Seel added one tally each.

Sean Duffy, Kalmus, Vlasimsky and Caleb Zuhoski registered one assist apiece in Queens.

Denver (7-4, 2-1 BIG EAST) opened the scoring in the first quarter when JJ Sillstrop found the back of the net to give the Pioneers a 1-0 advantage in less than two minutes.

St. John's (0-12, 0-3 BIG EAST) responded emphatically, scoring three straight times to vault in front, 3-1 with 7:02 to play in the opening period. Kelly tallied his first of the day before Vlasimsky found the back of the net twice to put the Red Storm ahead.

Two quick goals by Denver tied the score at three before Kelly notched his second goal of the contest to restore the Johnnies' lead, 4-3, at the end of the first quarter.

In a back-and-forth second period, the Pioneers tied the score at four goals apiece at the 13:59 mark before Seel found paydirt less than three minutes later to inch the Red Storm in front, 5-4.

After Denver tied the score once more, Vlasimsky and Kalmus responded with a goal each to put St. John's on top, 7-5, with 6:08 to play in the opening half.

A late goal by Sillstrop would make it a one-goal game, 7-6, in favor of the Red Storm heading to the halftime locker room.

At the beginning of the third frame, Batastini corralled a rebound off a shot from Gavin Legg and went behind the back to put one in and expand the home side's advantage, 8-6.

After the Pioneers responded with their first tally of the quarter, Lutfi fought through traffic and fired a ball past the Denver netminder before Vlasimsky tallied his fourth goal of the day to make the score 10-7 with 5:50 remaining in the third quarter.

Denver closed the quarter with two scores to cut its deficit to one, 10-9, heading to the final period.

Midway through the fourth quarter, the Johnnies put together a long defensive stand that included back-to-back stellar saves from Munson. The Pioneers eventually broke through and took its first lead since early in the first quarter, 11-10. The Pioneers tacked on another, and the Red Storm were unable to convert offensively down the stretch.

St. John's will return to Belson Stadium for Senior Day against Georgetown next Saturday at 1 p.m.