By Dylan Butler
The St. John’s men’s soccer team was riding the momentum from three straight wins, including a pair of overtime victories in the Philips Lighting/Adidas Soccer Classic at Rutgers University. Their opponent, the Pittsburgh Panthers, was reeling from a 4-1 loss to Syracuse, its fifth straight Big East defeat.
Advantage St. John’s, right? One would think so, especially after the Red Storm took a 1-0 second-half lead. But it was the host Panthers, led by junior keeper Justin Gaul who made a career-high 15 saves, who earned a 1-1 tie with then-No. 3 ranked St. John's Sunday at Quaker Valley High School in Pittsburgh, Pa.
It was Pittsburgh’s first league point, as the Panthers (3-7-1, 0-5-1 Big East) moved out of the Big East basement currently occupied by Providence (0-8-2, 0-4).
The draw drops the Red Storm to 7-0-2 overall, 3-0-2 in conference, as St. John’s fell in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll from No. 3 to No. 4.
Gaul, who earned Big East Co-Goalkeeper of the Week honors with Connecticut senior Bryheem Hancock, almost shaped up to the goat instead of the hero when he handled a loose ball just outside of the box, giving St. John’s a penalty kick.
Sophomore defender Chris Wingert scored his third goal of the year, and second from the penalty spot, to put the Red Storm ahead, 1-0 in the 58th minute.
Pittsburgh made good use of its first corner kick of the game in the 77th minute, as Bryan Hooper corralled Marco Carrizales’ corner at the top of the box and dished to Clay Haflich, who in turn crossed the ball to Carrizales, who beat Red Storm keeper Guy Hertz inside the right post.
St. John’s dominated possession and had a 24-9 advantage in shots, but Gaul was great, making key saves on close range shots by Peter Philipakos and Matt Groenwald to preserve the draw.
Next up for the Red Storm is a pivotal mid-week conference game at Seton Hall (8-2-1, 4-0) Wednesday. The Pirates are currently in third place in the conference, behind No. 13 Connecticut and No. 8 Rutgers, while the Red Storm is in sixth, with No. 21 Boston College and Notre Dame ahead of them.
After the clash at Seton Hall, the Red Storm returns to the road Sunday to face Virginia Tech (7-5, 1-4) at noon.
Queensborough falls in CUNYAC Community College men’s soccer championship
For the second consecutive year, the Borough of Manhattan Community College captured the CUNYAC men’s soccer championship with a 5-2 win over Queensborough Community College at Bronx Community College Sunday.
BMCC (4-3) broke a 2-2 tie with three second-half goals, two by tournament Most Valuable Player Duane Bell, to capture the crown.
Early on it was Queensborough (1-4-1) with the momentum, as goals by sophomore Juan Mena from Corona and freshman Gabriel Rodriguez from Flushing gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead in the opening 10 minutes.
But BMCC answered right back, as goals by freshmen Raul Caceres and Abraham Galvan tied the score seven minutes before the break. Sophomore Jacek Lawniczak netted what proved to be the game-winner in the 64th minute and Bell added a pair of goals to clinch the title.
Women’s Soccer
Loyola-Chicago 2, St. John’s 0. After winning two straight, including an upset victory over then-No. 19 Syracuse, the Red Storm dropped its second consecutive, falling to Loyola-Chicago, 2-0 Sunday.
Kate Koning put the Ramblers (4-6-1) ahead in the 14th minute and Stephanie Bruch sealed the game for Loyola in the 76th minute. St. John’s (4-8, 3-3 Big East) is slated to host Monmouth in another non-league contest Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
Notre Dame 7, St. John’s 0. The fifth-ranked Fighting Irish scored 27 seconds into the game and led 3-0 at the half en route to the 7-0 rout in South Bend, Ind.
SJU Men’s basketball signs with ESPN Radio
After 10 years on WFAN Radio, St. John’s announced last week that ESPN Radio 1050 AM will be the new flagship station to broadcast all Red Storm men’s basketball games. Nelligan Sports Marketing, Inc., the exclusive media, marketing and promotional rights holder for St. John’s University Athletics, negotiated the new four-year agreement.
Back for their fourth year will be the broadcast team of Queens native Gary Cohen and Ed Coleman.
White leads York to second place finish in CUNY Cross Country Championships
York junior Khari White from Jamaica led the men’s cross country team by winning the crown in 29:18.65 in the CUNY Cross Country Championships at Van Cortlandt Park Sunday. Hunter captured the team title with 29 points, 17 points ahead of second place York, the defending champions.
“I haven’t felt my best in the last two weeks,” said White. “But still this is a fantastic feeling that I’ve been striving for the last three years. It’s great to see your name atop the list.”
The York women’s team finished fourth, thanks to a fourth-place finish by Queens native Shakima Thomas, 22:48.47. Hunter captured its fifth straight title with 30 points, followed by Baruch (60 points), Lehman College (82 points) and York (92 points).
Zayas and Medjuck lead St. John’s at SJU Fall Cross Country Festival
Graduate student Jose Zayas led the Red Storm men’s team to a third-place finish in the SJU Fall Country Festival at St. John’s Oakdale campus, by winning the race in 25:52. St. John’s had three men finish in the top ten as sophomore Sean Tremblay took seventh place with a 26:35 and sophomore Greg Mason finished ninth in 26:45.
Senior Lynn Medjuck took second place in 18:35 as the Red Storm women placed third behind Stony Brook and Fordham. Sophomore Jennifer Lebowitz also had a strong showing, taking fifth place in 19:01.
The cross-country team returns to action Friday, Oct. 26 at the Big East championships at Van Cortlandt Park.
Astoria’s Antonescu earns CUNY women’s tennis honors
Astroia resident Iris Antonescu, a junior on the Hunter College women’s tennis team, garnered CUNY Player of the Week honors, the league announced Monday. The three year No. 1 singles player beat College of Staten Island’s Lisa Dungo and John Jay’s Warunee Maikoksoong, by identical 10-6 scored to lead the Hawks to the regular season crown.
Women’s volleyball
St. John’s 30-30-30, Sacred Heart 20-16-19. Junior Sarah McCrary had 12 kills and 10 digs, senior Sterie Varghese registered a team-high 11 digs and seven kills and sophomore setter Robyn Kurasaki added nine digs and 36 assists for the Red Storm (14-2) Friday at Alumni Hall. Sacred Heart dropped to 5-13.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
