St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
2-4
No. 17/17 Fairfield
6-0
Matt Nelson Makes 20 Saves as St. John’s Drops Home Contest to No. 17/17 Fairfield
3/4/2025 6:55:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
Brian Kelly tallied his third hat trick of 2025
QUEENS, N.Y. – Despite 20 saves from freshman goalkeeper Matt Nelson, the St. John's lacrosse team fell to No. 17/17 Fairfield on Tuesday afternoon at Cox Family Field at Belson Stadium, 20-8.
The Stags took an early 5-0 lead and never looked back, handing the Red Storm its fourth loss of the season.
Nelson had a career day between the pipes in just his second career start, becoming the first St. John's netminder to make 20 stops in a game since Kyle Munson had 23 against Providence in 2023.
Senior attackman Brian Kelly netted three goals for his third hat trick of 2025, marking the fifth time in six games this season that he has eclipsed three points. The Red Hook, N.Y., native is up to 163 points for his career, giving him sole possession of fourth place on the program's all-time scoring list.
After missing two games, freshman Ryan Ormond returned to the lineup with a three-point performance, tallying a goal and the first two helpers of his career. Despite playing just four games, Ormond is third on the team with 15 points, and his 13 scores only trails Kelly's 16 goals.
Jayson Cardenas continued his strong play as of late, going for a score and a helper for his third-consecutive multi-point effort. The freshman is up to nine points this season on six goals and three assists.
Bobby Seel found the back of the net and dished an assist, extending his team-best point and goal streak to 22 games, dating back to the 2023 season. Adrian Nowak scored his ninth goal of the campaign, while Drew Wasserman netted a score for the fourth time this season.
Freshmen midfielders Danny Koch and Mitch Campbell each added an assist to round out the Red Storm's scoring.
The Red Storm's rookie defensemen continued to produce on Tuesday. After entering Tuesday atop the BIG EAST's leaderboard with 2.25 caused turnovers per game, Quinn Falasca forced two giveaways against the Stags and scooped two groundballs. Tyson Meade's four loose balls were his most in a game so far in his young career, while Wade Bryan had a season-best two caused turnovers.
Fairfield came out of the gates on fire, scoring the game's first five goals. Kelly buried a feed from Ormond to get the Red Storm on the board, but the Stags responded with two straight scores to make it 7-1 at the end of the first.
The visitors struck first in the second stanza before Cardenas fired a strike from the slot just as a Fairfield penalty expired to cut the Stags' lead to 8-2. Six straight goals from Fairfield made it 14-2. Kelly's second of the game in the final minute of the half sent the teams into the locker rooms with the score 14-3.
Ormond scored to open the third quarter, finishing a pass from Cardenas on the doorstep. After two Stags goals, Seel got his second point of the day, bouncing one into the twine off Campbell's helpe. Fairfield answered to go up by 12, but Nowak found the back of the net, finishing a pass from Koch to make it 17-6 at the end of the third.
Fairfield extended the lead to 18-6 early in the fourth before Kelly completed his hat trick, netting an unassisted score. Minutes later, Wasserman finished a pass from Ormond to bring the Johnnies within 10, 18-8. Two scores from the Stags put a cap on Fairfield's 20-8 victory.
St. John's will return to action on Saturday when it travels to Rhode Island to take on Bryant. Faceoff from Berine Stadium in Smithfield, R.I., is set for 12 p.m.
