St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
4-9 (1-2)BE
RV/RV Villanova
6-5,(3-0)BE
St. John’s Fourth Quarter Comeback Falls Short, Drops Defensive Battle to RV/RV Villanova, 10-7
4/12/2025 2:53:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
Patrick Scarborough matched his career best with 18 saves for St. John’s
QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's lacrosse team cut a five-goal deficit to one in the fourth quarter but was unable to complete the comeback, falling to RV/RV Villanova, 10-7, on Saturday at Villanova Stadium.
The Johnnies (4-9, 0-3 BIG EAST) trailed 6-2 at the half before making it 7-6 late in the final quarter, but Villanova scored three late goals to put the game out of reach.
Netminder Patrick Scarborough was magnificent in net for the Red Storm, matching his career-best with 18 stops for his ninth consecutive performance with double-digit saves. His 64.2 save percentage was his season-high and marked the seventh time in 2025 he stopped over 50 percent of shots faced.
Brian Kelly scored five goals and tallied an assist, recording the third five-score game of his career. Saturday's six-point performance marked the sixth time this season he has eclipsed the six-point mark and extended his team-best point streak to 16 games.
The five goals give him 114 in his career, moving him past Kevin Cernuto for third on the program's all-time goal list. The Red Hook, N.Y., native has 55 points on 33 goals and 22 assists this year, all career-bests for a season.
Jayson Cardenas found the back of the net and dished two helpers for his third three-point game and sixth multipoint effort of the season. The freshman has 21 points through 13 games, becoming the sixth Red Storm player to hit the 20-point plateau.
Adrian Nowak scored his 20th goal of the season, while Caiden Vlasimsky tallied an assist, giving him five points over the last two games. Freshman Ryan Ormond also picked up his fourth helper of the season, giving him 26 points in 2025.
At the faceoff 'X', Ethan Wiegand won eight-of-17 draws and scooped four groundballs, while John Mavlios went one-for-three with a loose ball pickup.
On the defensive end, Quinn Falasca and Dylan Lee each caused a pair of turnovers, their 21st and 20th forced giveaways of the season, respectively. Senior Braeden Pratt scooped four groundballs, matching his career-high, and freshman Marcel Vernon Jr. also picked up four loose balls, a new season best.
The Johnnies converted two of their three man-up opportunities while shutting down the Wildcats' extra-man unit on all four occasions. The Red Storm's penalty kill has allowed goals on just eight of 36 opportunities this season, a 22.2 percent rate.
Gavin Michener scored three points for Villanova (6-5, 3-0 BIG EAST), while Colin Michener, Nick Lucchesi and Luke Raymond each contributed with multi-point efforts. The Wildcats caused 18 St. John's turnovers.
The teams traded stops for the first six minutes of the game before Kelly took the ball himself from behind the cage and gave the Johnnies a 1-0 lead. The Wildcats tied the score at one, five minutes later, to end the scoring of a defensive opening quarter. Scarborough made four saves in the first 15 minutes, while Villanova turned the ball over six times.
'Nova scored five times in the first 8:54 of the second quarter to take a 6-1 lead. Ormond picked up a groundball behind the cage and found Nowak on the doorstep to end the Wildcats' run, making it 6-2 at the half. Scarborough stopped seven more shots in the second.
In the third quarter, Cardenas converted a low-angle bouncer on the man-up, cutting the deficit to three, but the Wildcats responded minutes later to reestablish a four-goal lead, 7-3. Kelly's second of the day, off Cardenas' pass, made it 7-4 late in the quarter. The Red Storm held the Wildcats to just one goal in the third frame, the third time this season it has held its opponent to one goal in the third stanza.
Kelly completed the hat trick with an acrobatic over-the-shoulder shot four minutes into the final frame to make it a two-goal game, 7-5, before Cardenas found Kelly again 2:03 later, bringing St. John's within a score, 7-6, at the 9:00 minute mark. The Wildcats ended the 3-0 St. John's run with two goals of their own, pushing the lead back to three with three minutes to play. Kelly's fifth score of the game made it 9-7, but Villanova put the game on ice with a last-minute empty-net goal.
The Johnnies will return to Queens next Saturday to face No. 14/13 Georgetown on Senior Day. Faceoff from Cox Family Field at Belson Stadium is set for 12 p.m.
