St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Jacksonville
St. John’s Carries Momentum into Saturday Contest at Jacksonville
3/1/2024 11:52:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
The Red Storm earned its first win of the season at Queens on Wednesday
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (March 1, 2024) – Following its first win of the season on Wednesday against Queens, the St. John's lacrosse team will face Jacksonville on Saturday at noon.
The non-conference tilt from Rock Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available on RedStormSports.com
On Wednesday against Queens, Adrian Nowak tallied the first five-goal performance of his career, leading the Red Storm to an 11-8 win over the Royals. In addition to his five scores, Nowak earned his first assist of the season. The redshirt freshman's six points match Brian Kelly's effort against Hofstra for the most by a Red Storm player in a game this season. Nowak also became the first freshman to record four goals or more in an outing since Kelly reached that mark against Fairfield on March 22, 2022. The Wantagh, N.Y., native is now up to nine goals on the season, tied for second on the team.
Kelly had a strong game of his own, scoring a goal and matching his career-high with four assists. The junior is up to 112 points in his career, which ranks 13th place on the Red Storm's all-time points list and is within three points of tying Eric DeJohn for 12th place. Through six games this season, Kelly leads the Red Storm in goals (12), assists (8) and points (20).
Bobby Seel scored a goal against the Royals and added a pair of helpers to extend his team-best goals and point streaks to seven games. Through six games, Seel has nine goals which surpasses his total from last season and his 15 points match his total from 2023.
Adam Dembicki had an impressive showing at the faceoff 'X', winning 12-of-22 draws. The freshman won double-digit faceoffs for the third time this season and has posted a 47.7 win percentage at the faceoff dot.
The Red Storm have been excellent in the clear game, ranking atop the BIG EAST succeeding on 87.6 of its attempts.
Jacksonville dropped its most recent game on Wednesday to No. 13 Michigan, 13-10, at Rock Stadium to fall to 1-3 on the season. The Dolphins held an 8-6 halftime lead before the Wolverines outscored them 7-2 in the second half to hand Jacksonville its third-straight loss.
Jack Taylor and Ethan LaMond are tied for the team lead with five goals each this season. 10 players have at least two scores and 17 have tallied at least one point. At the faceoff 'X', Nathan Kapp has won 47 percent of his draws and Drew Rippeon has been successful on 13-of-28 faceoff attempts. Between the pipes, Ryan Della Rocco is fifth in the nation, making 14.3 saves per contest.
The Dolphins were selected second in the ASUN Pre-season poll and midfielder Tucker Garrity was named to the 2024 Preseason All-ASUN Team. Jacksonville finished 12-4 a season ago under Head Coach John Galloway.
Saturday will mark the fifth all-time meeting between the Red Storm and the Dolphins, dating back to 2015. It will mark the third-straight year the two non-conference foes have faced off. Last season, Jacksonville earned the 17-9 win over St. John's on March 11, 2023, at DaSilva Memorial Field in Queens.
Following tomorrow's matchup with the Dolphins, the Johnnies will return home to play its first of four games at Belson Stadium on Saturday, March 9 against Binghamton. Faceoff is set for 12 p.m. on ESPN+.
