St. John’s men’s soccer team overcame a rough first half of the season, and brought home the team’s eighth Big East Tournament victory in school history.
In a double overtime contest on Sunday, November 15, the Red Storm (9-2-9) outlasted and outplayed their division rivals – the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-7-4). The game in Morgantown, West Virginia, came down to a thrilling shootout where St. John’s won the match with a margin of 5-3 goals.
The scoreless regulation game was the result of the overpowering defensive prowess of both scrappy squads. The Red Storm keeper, Derby Carrillo, proved why they are the premier team in the Big East.
“It feels good to win a championship for ourselves, our friends, our family and the St. John’s community,” said Carrillo, who posted his 10th shutout of the season with this win. “We have so many people cheering us on.”
Carrillo earned Most Outstanding Defensive Player honors and was named to the All-Tournament team.
This win not only solidifies them as the towering force in the Big East division, it also gives them a first round bye in the NCAA Division 1 soccer tournament. They will use that downtime to prepare for the winner of the Dartmouth and Boston College matchup.
“We tied a lot of games during the season, but our schedule was also very tough,” said Marc Reeves, assistant head coach for St. John’s.
There was constant back and forth action during the finals on Sunday. Each team had multiple scoring opportunities during regulation time, but it was to no avail as the defense on both sides picked it up and shut down all who tried to penetrate.
Shots by St. John’s Connor Lade, Walter Hines, and Pablo Punyed were all denied by Notre Dame’s goalie, Andrew Quinn.
After regulation, the shootout was on.
The Red Storm opened with a shot to the back of the net on Quinn, and Notre Dame fired back with a strike of their own. The shootout was stuck at 3-2 in favor of St. John’s.
Soon after, St. John’s senior Joel Gustafsson booted in a laser to the right side of the goal, passed the diving Quinn. Lade immediately followed up Gustafsson’s goal with another shot through the goal line – that sealed the victory for the Red Storm.
“I’m extremely pleased with the whole group… A lot of effort was put into this season,” Reeves said.
