St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
4-11
Providence
7-7
St. John’s Comeback Falls Short Against Providence, 16-13
4/26/2024 10:39:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
Sean Duffy and Caleb Zuhoski recorded hat tricks for the Red Storm
QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's lacrosse team dropped its season finale to Providence on Friday, 16-13, at Belson Stadium.
The teams traded early goals, but three separate 3-0 Providence runs provided the separation in the game.
Eight different players scored for the Red Storm, who finishes 4-11 overall and 1-4 in BIG EAST play in Head Coach Justin Turri's second season at the helm of the program.
Sean Duffy recorded a hat trick and added an assist for his first four-point performance of the season. The graduate student finishes the campaign with 10 points in the team's final four contests.
Caleb Zuhoski tallied his third three-goal performance of the season on Friday. Zuhoski matched his career-best with 24 points this season and reached 20 goals for the first time.
Brian Kelly had a four-point outing for the Johnnies, scoring a pair of second-half goals and dishing out two assists. The junior has 136 points in his career, moving him into sole possession of seventh place on the Red Storm's all-time points list.
Caiden Vlasimsky picked up his eighth multi-point game with a goal and an assist while Bobby Seel found the back of the net to extend his team-best point streak to 16 games. Seel finishes 2024 with a career-high 41 points, trailing just Kelly for the team lead.
Dylan Lee earned his second assist of the season and faceoff specialist Dane Armstrong found the back of the net for the second time this year. Armstrong also had a strong day at the faceoff 'X', winning a career-best 18 draws and scooping seven groundballs against the Friars.
Senior captain Jake Oemcke scored his first goal of the season and Drew Wasserman picked up an assist. Sophomore Jake Wright added a score for his ninth straight game with a goal.
Redshirt junior Kyle Munson made 12 saves between the pipes for his ninth consecutive game with 10 or more stops.
St. John's fired 39 shots on Friday and converted 18-of-21 clear opportunities. The Red Storm went 1-for-3 on the extra man in the loss.
Providence (7-7, 3-2) was led by Richie Joseph, who tallied three goals and five assists. Ryan Bella added seven points with four goals and three helpers while Jack Horrigan also scored four times. Five players recorded multi-point games for the Friars. Netminder James Corasaniti made nine saves and Quinn McCannaughey won 10 faceoffs.
The visitors opened the scoring on the game's first possession, taking a 1-0 lead 1:34 into the opening period. Duffy tied the game, 1-1, with a bouncer on the run. The Friars retook the lead, 2-1, with 6:20 remaining in the quarter, but Lee picked up the groundball on the ensuing faceoff and found a wide-open Seel on the doorstep of the crease who retied the game at 2-2. The teams continued to trade goals late in the quarter as Providence recaptured the lead, 3-2, before Zuhoski buried a shot from the left side to knot the score at three to end an eventful opening frame.
The Friars scored the first three goals of the second quarter to take a 6-3 lead with 6:12 remaining in the half. The Johnnies got back within two when Zuhoski scored his second of the game off a feed from Wasserman, but Providence answered 14 seconds later to take a 7-4 advantage. Duffy's second goal made it 7-5 before Wright netted a pass from Kelly to bring St. John's within one, 7-6, heading into the locker rooms.
Providence extended its lead to four early in the third quarter with three goals in the first 4:49 of the frame, making it 10-6. Armstrong answered with the Red Storm's first of the quarter after winning a faceoff and scoring four seconds later, but the Friars responded less than a minute later to regain their four-goal advantage, 11-7, with 7:31 left in the third. Another Providence goal made it 12-7 before Kelly found the back of the net to bring the Johnnies within four, 12-8, at the end of the third quarter.
Duffy completed the hat trick early in the fourth, sniping a shot over the left shoulder of Corasaniti off a Vlasimsky helper to make it 12-9. Providence ended the brief 2-0 St. John's run with three quick goals to go up 15-9. Vlasimsky scored with just under nine minutes left in regulation and Kelly found the back of the net 1:18 later to shrink the deficit to 15-11. Zuhoski picked up his third score of the game 40 seconds later, bringing St. John's back within three, 15-12. A late Providence goal followed by Oemcke's tally in the final minute put a bow on the Friars' third BIG EAST win of the year.
St. John's finishes 2024 with its most victories since winning four games in 2019. Providence will move on to Thursday's BIG EAST Tournament semifinal.
