St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Providence
St. John’s To Face Providence in Regular Season Finale
4/25/2024 2:09:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
The Red Storm will look to clinch a spot in the BIG EAST Tournament
The St. John's lacrosse team will conclude its regular season slate with a Friday night showdown against Providence.
Faceoff from Belson Stadium in Queens, N.Y., is set for 7 p.m. for a matchup between two teams vying to lock up a berth in the 2024 BIG EAST Tournament. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ with Ralph Bednarczyk and Zach Weiss on the call and live stats will be available on RedStormSports.com.
The Johnnies are searching for their first appearance in the BIG EAST Tournament since 2012. If Villanova defeats Georgetown on Friday night, the Red Storm will qualify with a victory against Providence. If the Wildcats fall to the Hoyas, St. John's will need to beat the Friars by at least four goals.
The Red Storm (4-10, 1-3 BIG EAST) was outscored 7-1 in the first quarter and eventually fell to Georgetown, 20-6, on Saturday at Cooper Field in Washington, D.C.
Three players recorded multi-point efforts for the Johnnies and St. John's converted 14-of-16 clear opportunities.
Bobby Seel set a new career high with four assists against the Hoyas, extending his team-best point streak to 15 games. Seel has 12 multi-point efforts this season and has recorded at least two points in 10 straight contests. The junior is tied for the team lead with 40 points this season, the first time in his career he eclipsed that mark.
Brian Kelly scored two goals against Georgetown, bringing his team-best total up to 27 for the season. Kelly's two points give him 40 for the year, giving the Johnnies two 40-point scorers in a season for the second time in the last three campaigns.
Sophomore Jake Wright has eight consecutive multi-point performances after recording a goal and an assist in Washington D.C. on Saturday. The attackman has a team-best eight-game goal streak and has 20 points in 11 appearances this season.
Kyle Munson made 13 saves between the pipes against Georgetown to extend his double-digit save streak to eight games. The redshirt junior currently leads the BIG EAST with 11.5 saves per game. In last season's 12-11 overtime loss to Providence, Munson tied a program record since reinstatement in 2005 with a 23-save performance.
Friday will mark the 24th all-time meeting between St. John's and Providence. The Johnnies lead the series, 15-8.
Providence (6-7, 2-2 BIG EAST) fell to Denver on Saturday, 7-4, to drop to 2-2 in BIG EAST play this season. The Friars led 1-0 after the first quarter but were outscored 5-2 over the middle two frames and were unable to mount a comeback in the fourth. Richie Joseph led the way for Providence, scoring two goals while Chris Cusolito and Michael Chabra each added a tally. James Corasaniti made nine saves on 16 shots between the pipes.
The Friars' offense features the best goal scorer and assist-getter in the BIG EAST in Joseph's 2.69 scores per contest and Ryan Bell's three assists per game. Bell and Joseph are also the leading point-scorers for the Friars, totaling 56 and 42 this season, respectively. Five Providence players have at least 20 points this season and six athletes have double-figure goals. In net, Corasaniti has started all 13 games and has a 47 percent save rate. He allows 12.7 goals and makes 11 saves per contest.
If the Johnnies qualify for the conference tournament, they will enter as the fourth seed and face top-seeded Denver in Thursday's quarterfinal. Faceoff from Villanova Stadium in Villanova, Pa., is set for 5:30 p.m. All three tournament games will be aired on CBS Sports Network.
