St. John’s Set to Open 2025 against NJIT on Saturday

Saturday, February 8

Newark, NJ (Lubetkin Field at Mal Simon Stadium)

12 p.m.

St. John's University

NJIT

Brian Kelly scored four goals and added an assist

St. John’s Set to Open 2025 against NJIT on Saturday

2/7/2025 9:48:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse

Game Notes Watch on ESPN+Live Stats

The Red Storm and Highlanders will square off to begin the season for the second year in a row

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's lacrosse team will begin year three of the Justin Turri era on Saturday when it travels to Newark, N.J., to face NJIT in a rematch of last year's season opener. Faceoff from Mal Simon Stadium is set for noon.

The game will be streamed on ESPN+, and live stats will be available on RedStormSports.com.

The Red Storm return 30 letterwinners from last season's squad which went 4-11 and won its first BIG EAST game since 2016. Senior attackman Brian Kelly leads the Johnnies into the 2025 season after surpassing 40 points for the third season in a row to begin his career in 2024. The second-year captain led St. John's with 44 points and 29 goals, while his 15 assists ranked second on the team. The high-volume scorer landed himself on the 2024 All-BIG EAST First Team and the conference's 2025 preseason team. He had 12 multi-point games, giving him 36 such performances in his career.

The Red Hook, N.Y., native enters 2025 with 136 career points, seventh-most in program history. He needs two points to tie Mike Madsen for sixth on the program's all-time list. His 81 career goals rank eighth in program history, and he needs to find the back of the net four more times to tie Jason DeBenedictis for seventh place.

After surpassing 40 points last season for the first time in his career to join Kelly as a 2024 All-BIG EAST selection, senior Bobby Seel will look to build on a strong 2024 where he tallied 25 goals and a team-best 16 assists. Seel has recorded at least one point in 16 straight games dating back to the final game of the 2023 season, with 13 multi-point performances in that span, including 10 straight to end his junior campaign. Seel was also selected to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team.

Several other contributors from the 2024 squad return for the Red Storm this season. Redshirt sophomore Adrian Nowak returns to the lineup after missing the final nine games of the 2024 season due to injury. In just six appearances last season, Nowak tallied nine goals and one assist. In the Johnnies' first win of the season over Queens last February, the Wantagh, N.Y., native recorded six points on five goals and a helper.

Sophomore faceoff specialist Adam Dembicki will look to build off a promising freshman campaign last season, where he won 61-of-132 faceoffs and scooped 23 groundballs. The Fairfax, Va., native had four games over 50 percent at the 'X' and three performances with more than 10 faceoff wins.

Senior captain Braeden Pratt and junior Harry Noel return to anchor a St. John's defense that allowed the program's fewest goals per game since 2019.

The Johnnies added 22 new faces this season, comprised of 17 freshmen and 5 transfers. Among the transfers are former Dickinson netminder Patrick Scarborough, who won 22 games as a starter in three seasons, and 2024 USILA Senior All-Star Game selection SSDM Nick Turrini, who comes over from Lehigh.

Saturday will be the second all-time matchup between the Red Storm and the Highlanders. When the two squads met a season ago in Queens, a Nowak hat trick helped the home side jump out to a 5-1 advantage before NJIT rallied and eventually earned a 10-8 victory. Dylan Lee scored his first college goal, while Luke Mangan and Seel found the back of the net.

The Highlanders went 8-6 in 2024, finishing 1-6 in America East play. The eight wins are the most for the program since the school started playing lacrosse in 2015. After winning its first seven contests of the year, NJIT dropped its first six games of conference play before closing the season with a 12-4 victory over UMass Lowell on April 27.

Going into 2025, NJIT's roster lost its top four point-getters from a season ago, including Garrett Muscatella, who led the team with 29 goals, 16 assists and 45 total points. Ryan Sinisky, who tallied 27 points on 14 goals and 13 helpers in 2024, returns to Newark to lead the Highlanders this season. NJIT also lost outstanding faceoff specialist Billy Kroeger, who won 207-of-348 draws last year.

Following Saturday's season-opener in the Garden State, the Johnnies will remain on the road to meet Delaware on Saturday, Feb. 15, in Newark, Del. Faceoff from Delaware Stadium is set for 12 p.m.