St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
4-9
Villanova
7-5
St. John’s Defeated by Villanova, 14-9
4/13/2024 4:38:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
Jake Wright recorded his first career hat trick in the loss
QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's lacrosse team fell to Villanova, 14-9, on Saturday at Belson Stadium.
The Red Storm (4-9, 1-2 BIG EAST) took an early 1-0 lead but a 9-2 Villanova run helped the Wildcats pick up their first BIG EAST win of 2024.
Sophomore attackman Jake Wright tallied his first career hat trick, scoring three goals for the Johnnies. Wright has seven straight multi-point games and has 18 points over that stretch.
Bobby Seel scored two goals and added a pair of assists for his fourth game with at least four points this season. Seel extended his team-best point and goal streaks to 14 games on Saturday and has nine consecutive appearances with at least two points. Seel also scooped five groundballs in the loss.
Sean Duffy produced his second-straight three-point outing, netting a goal and picking up two assists. Brian Kelly added a pair of second-half goals, giving him 130 points for his career, moving him into sole possession of ninth place on the program's all-time scoring list. Kelly has seven games this season with at least two goals.
Caleb Zuhoski scored a goal for his sixth straight game on Saturday. The senior midfielder has 13 points over that stretch.
Defensively, Jordan Hayes and Jack Schirtzer each caused a pair of turnovers. Schirtzer is up to 19 forced giveaways this year, most on the team.
Redshirt junior Kyle Munson made 11 saves between the pipes, marking his sixth straight game with double-digit stops.
The Johnnies won the groundball battle, 30-27, and forced eight Wildcats giveaways.
Nine players scored goals for Villanova (7-5, 1-2 BIG EAST), led by Mason Reale's hat trick. Matt Licata, Colin Michener and Thomas McIntire each added a pair of scores while Tyler Boes, Luke Raymond, Dan Martin and Lucas Newton all had multi-point efforts. Anthony Wilson stopped 12 of the 21 shots he faced between the pipes while Ryan Cunningham won 9-of-13 faceoffs.
Seel opened the scoring with a rip from the left side, giving the Red Storm a 1-0 lead, but the Wildcats evened the score 1-1 five minutes later. Zuhoski regained the lead for the Johnnies with 1:31 remaining in the first. 21 seconds later, Villanova tied the score at 2-2, heading into the second quarter. Munson made four saves in the opening frame.
Villanova took its first lead of the game, 3-2, scoring 41 seconds into the second quarter and added another to take a 4-2 lead. Wright answered on a feed from Seel to bring the Johnnies within 1, 4-3, but four straight Wildcats goals made the score 8-3 at the half.
The visitors' lead swelled to 9-3 early in the third quarter. Kelly put one in the back of the net with 8:26 remaining in the period on an assist from Duffy to make it 9-4. After Villanova scored again to regain its six-goal lead, Duffy scored off a spin move to shrink the deficit back to five, 10-5. Two Wildcats goals opened up a 12-5 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the third period. Wright bounced one into the twine off a feed from Seel at the end of the period, making it a 12-6 game heading into the final quarter.
Kelly's second of the afternoon, 4:33 into the fourth, brought the Johnnies back within five, 12-7. After Villanova scored with 6:19 remaining in regulation to go up 13-7, Wright completed the hat trick with just over four minutes to play to make it 13-8. After another Wildcats goal, Seel scored his second of the afternoon with under a minute to play. Villanova won the ensuing faceoff and ran out the clock on a 14-8 victory.
The Red Storm will return to action next Saturday to face No. 6/6 Georgetown. Faceoff from Cooper Field in Washington, D.C. is set for noon.
