St. John’s Ventures to Villanova for Saturday Afternoon Contest

QUEENS, N.Y.– The St. John's men's soccer squad (7-5-3, 2-3-1 BIG EAST) will travel to Villanova (5-5-5, 1-2-3 BIG EAST) for a Saturday afternoon conference tilt at the Higgins Soccer Complex.

The Red Storm's final BIG EAST road match will kick-off at 12 p.m. from Villanova, Pa. The contest will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available on RedStormSports.com.

The Johnnies are coming off a 1-0 setback against RV Seton Hall at Cox Family Field at Belson Stadium, 1-0, on Saturday. The Red Storm outshot the Pirates, 11-5, but the marker from the Pirates' Mikkel Lejbowicz in the 32^nd minute proved to be the difference maker. In its last road contest, St. John's defeated Monmouth, 1-0, in the Garden State. The Red Storm were led by a highlight-reel game-winner from Guilherme Gomes, a dominant 17-3 shooting performance and a clean sheet between the pipes from Alec McLachlan.

With two conference matches remaining, the Red Storm currently sits fifth in the BIG EAST East Division with seven points and remain in the race for the BIG EAST Tournament. The 2025 BIG EAST Men's Soccer Championship will feature four teams and will be held at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds. The Midwest and East Division winners along with the next two highest point earning teams regardless of division will comprise the conference tournament field. The four teams will battle for the BIG EAST's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on Nov. 13-16.

Freshman sensation Guilherme Gomes has paced the Johnnies attack with six goals, 12 points, 23 shots, three game-winning tallies and 11 strikes on target. The midfielder's goal total ranks fourth in the BIG EAST Conference and sixth among freshmen in NCAA Division I. Gomes is joined by fellow rookies in Andrew Porucznik and Jayden Montgomery, who has been featured in the starting XI.

Senior goalkeeper Alec McLachlan ranks fourth in the league in goals against average with a 0.98. The Stockport, England product has tallied 29 saves and four shutouts for the third consecutive season for the Johnnies.

Saturday marks the 45^th all-time meeting between the two conference foes with St. John's leading the series 27-11-6. The Red Storm have taken three out of the last four meetings and are 2-0-1 in the last three at Higgins Soccer Complex against Villanova.

In last year's meeting on Sept. 28, St. John's scored two goals of a 3:46 span from Tyler Morck and Martin Kozak to down Villanova, 2-1. The victory marked a milestone victory from Head Coach Dr. Dave Masur earning his 400^th career win at St. John's becoming just the seventh coach in NCAA Division I soccer history to tally 400 or more wins at a singular Division I institution. The 35^th year lead man has recorded 466 total victories, which ranks second amongst active NCAA Division I coaches.

Villanova comes in with an even 5-5-5 overall mark and a 1-2-3 mark in league competition. In their last contest, the Wildcats fell to Georgetown, 3-0, snapping a four-match unbeaten streak. Villanova is seeking its first conference victory since it sunk UConn on Sept. 27, 2-1.

Villanova ranks 21^st in NCAA Division I and second in the BIG EAST logging 4.8 saves per contests. Offensively, Sam Nyenka paces the Wildcats with three goals and one assist (seven points).

St. John's will close out conference play on Senior Night on Nov. 7 when it welcomes Butler at 7 p.m. at Cox Family Field at Belson Stadium.

St. John’s Ventures to Villanova for Saturday Afternoon Contest

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Players Mentioned

Guilherme Gomes

Martin Kozak

Alec McLachlan

Jayden Montgomery

Tyler Morck

Andrew Porucznik

St. John's University Athletics