St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Le Moyne
St. John’s to Wrap Its Non-Conference Slate Against Le Moyne
3/22/2024 10:29:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
The Red Strom will face the Dolphins for the first time in program history
QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's lacrosse team will wrap up its non-conference slate on Saturday with the first meeting in program history against Le Moyne. Faceoff from Ted Grant Field in Syracuse, N.Y., is set for noon.
The contest will be streamed on NEC Front Row and live stats will be available on RedStormSports.com.
The Red Storm (2-7, 0-0 BIG EAST) is coming off a 15-8 setback against Saint Joseph's last Saturday in Philadelphia. The Johnnies led by as many as two goals early on and led 6-5 at the intermission. The game featured six ties and two lead changes.
Five St. John's players recorded multi-point performances against the Hawks. Bobby Seel scored a goal and added an assist to extend his team-best point and goal streak to 10 games. Through nine games this season, Seel has career-highs in goals (16), assists (9) and points (25).
Brian Kelly also put one in the back of the net and tallied a helper last Saturday, marking his sixth multi-point effort of the season. The two points gave him 119 for his career, moving him into sole possession of 10th place on the Red Storm's all-time points list. Kelly leads the squad in points (27) and assists (11) and is tied with Seel for the team lead in goals (16). The Red Hook, N.Y., product is riding an eight-game point streak into Saturday's matchup with Le Moyne.
Jake Wright contributed two points third consecutive game against the Hawks, giving him seven points on the year. Senior Caleb Zuhoski and junior Caiden Vlasimsky each netted a pair of goals for the Red Storm in Philadelphia.
Dane Armstrong was phenomenal at the faceoff 'X', winning a career-best 17 draws. The senior started 5-of-5 and ended the first half 9-of-13. Armstrong's 17 faceoff victories are the most by a St. John's player in a game since Jonathan Dugenio went 20-of-34 in a 17-15 win over LIU on Feb. 22, 2020. Saturday marked the third straight game with double-digit wins for the UMBC transfer and he was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for his performance.
A week after being named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week, netminder Kyle Munson recorded 11 saves against Saint Joseph's last weekend. The redshirt junior has five games this season with double-digit saves. Munson leads the BIG EAST with 10.7 saves per game and his 48.7 percent save rate is third-best in the conference.
Saturday will mark the first home game of the season for Le Moyne. The Dolphins are coming off a wire-to-wire 20-9 loss on the road to Hobart last Saturday. Ethan Loun, Joey Pezzimenti and Isaac Frechette each recorded two-goal games while Ryan Risenmann scored a goal and added a helper. Sam Getty won 12-of-30 faceoffs and Carter Ruhm made 16 saves between the pipes.
Pezzimenti leads the Dolphins on the season with 18 points and 10 assists. Loun's 11 goals are the most on the team and Seth Benedict has 10 points on five goals and five helpers. 13 players have scored for Le Moyne and 15 have recorded at least one point. Defensively, Nick Mallette has a team-high six caused turnovers and has scooped 12 groundballs. Getty has won 74-146 faceoffs and has a team-high 37 loose balls. Ruhm has started six games in net and has a 50.7 save percentage.
Le Moyne enters Saturday with a 29 percent shot rate and puts 54 percent of its shots on net. The Dolphins have an 84.3 percent clear rate and allow opponents to successfully clear on 96.2 percent of attempts.
The Dolphins are 2-4 in their first season in Division I with wins over Wagner and Mercer. The squad advanced to the Division II National Semifinals in 2023. This year's squad returns 34 letterwinners from last season's team that went 17-1 and earned the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Following Saturday's showdown in Upstate New York, the Red Storm will return to Queens next Saturday to open BIG EAST play against Marquette. Faceoff from Belson Stadium is set for 11 a.m.
