Sports 11
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Men’s Lacrosse Upsets No. 11/13 High Point Sydney Denham The St. John’s Men’s Lacrosse team took on the No. 11/13 High Point University Panthers this past Saturday at Vert Stadium down in North Carolina. Going into this game 1-1 and having received votes for the Top 25 last weekend, this was a big one for the Red Storm. Despite a game filled with runs, the Red Storm were able to pick up the upset on the road after defeating the Panthers 10-9 in North Carolina on Saturday. “We hung in there all day and ground it out until the end,” Head Coach Jason Miller told RedStormSports.com after the game. Just one minute into the game, senior Chris Buscemi found the back of the net. He was one of the eight Johnnies who found the scoreboard during this game. After the Panthers scored to tie the game, Declan Swartwood, unassisted, put the Red Storm back in the lead. The second quarter was a shaky time for St. John’s both offensively and defensively. They couldn’t seem to stop High Point, while at the same time, the back of the net seemed distant. High Point stormed all the way back with one minute left to take a 6-4 lead. Redshirt freshman Jonathan Huber and junior Joe Madsen, both scored in the second quarter in order to limit the damage heading into halftime. The first half brought sophomore faceoff specialist Joseph Fitzpatrick and freshman Matt Duncan to earn their first career assists here at St. John’s. During this time, Fitzpat-
rick and Colin Bosak shared time taking the faceoffs. This led the Red Storm to find the back of the net three times during the third quarter, while the Panthers were only able to find it twice. In this quarter alone, junior attackman Mike Madsen got his hat trick. The Johnnies struggled to hold the lead throughout the game, leaving them down by two with 13:23 left in play. Mike Madsen, Huber and Joe Madsen stormed through to each score, allowing St. John’s to take the win with a score of 10-9. This win marked the Red Storm’s second-consecutive road victory of this season. The second half allowed Luke Roediger to step in at the X, locking down their win against the Panthers. He was a great help behind the net, containing the Panthers at their score of nine during the entire fourth quarter. The Red Storm was successful in keeping High Point’s leading scorer, Asher Nolting, from finding the net. He scored just one point during the whole game. St. John’s kept the pressure on High Point’s players and never gave up. The Madsen brothers have had themselves a successful season thus far. Against High Point and Hartford, both Joe and Mike scored three goals. Huber has been listed as a leading player during the game against High Point and against Hartford as well. The goals he scored ensured St. John’s victory over their opponents. Along with Huber, Swartwood assisted St. John’s in scoring three goals against Rutgers and one more against High Point.
TORCH PHOTO/MARIE BOGUE
The St. John’s Men’s Lacrosse team is averaging over 14 goals per game this season.
The Men’s Lacrosse team will be taking on their next game here at DaSilva Memorial Field, hoping to carry on their winning record as they host the Michigan Wolverines on March 2 at noon. Michigan is a team that’s been hovering around the Top 25 and gives the Red Storm another opportunity for a big win, this time on their home field. With the win on the road Saturday giving them their second away from Queens in as many tries, St. John’s has already eclipsed their road record from a year ago. The Red Storm finished 1-5 away from Queens in 2018 and now has a 2-0 record. St. John’s received 11 votes for the Top 25 poll after the result, but was still unable to squeak into it.
In addition to the team recognition, three members of the Red Storm lacrosse team were give weekly awards by the conference. Freshman goalie Brody Agres won Big East Freshman of the Week after he stopped 12 shots in Saturday’s win which helped keep High Point scoreless throughout most of the fourth quarter. Coach Miller was especially happy for Agres because he saw the win as a major stepping stone for the freshman goalie. Senior defender Aidan Marron and Joe Madsen found themselves on the Big East Weekly Honor roll. Marron was largely responsible for the quiet day for Nolting, one of the nation’s premier attackmen in the early periods of the college lacrosse season.
Baseball Splits Weather-Impacted Double Header Sean Okula The storm made its way to North Carolina this weekend, in more ways than one. Inclement weather forced postponements of the St. John’s-Western Carolina showdowns scheduled for Friday and Saturday afternoon. The skies finally cleared on Sunday, and the Red Storm rode a rollercoaster to a doubleheader split. With the forecast still murky, the front portion of the twin-bill was shortened to seven innings. Coach Ed Blankmeyer called on Sean Mooney to start, eager to get some innings out of his horse in case the skies didn’t hold for the full-length second game. Memories of the offensive futility that plagued the Johnnies in their season-opening sweep quickly subsided in the first. Third baseman Carson Bartels singled and came around to score on a Mitchell Henshaw single to right—the first of his three RBI over the two games. Sean McGeehan later added the Red Storm’s first home run of the season with a solo shot in the third. Just as they had in the opener against UCLA, the bats staked their ace with a pair of runs. Mooney was money in the early going. After stranding a couple of runners in the first, he struck out four of his next seven batters. He finished the afternoon with seven punchouts to one walk. The Catamounts dinked and dunked their way back into the game in the fourth.
Catcher Luke Robinson doubled with one out in the inning, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on an Andrew Bullock base hit. Western Carolina strung together two more singles after that to chase Bullock home, and the game reset at 2-2. St. John’s only had to stay out of the way to regain the lead in the fifth. Western Carolina starter Chase Walter walked McGeehan and Mike Antico to load the bases with one out. He handed the ball to reliever Zach Franklin, who allowed all three inherited runners to score. A walk sandwiched between fielding miscues and an RBI groundout invigoratingly gave the Johnnies a 5-2 lead. Nine outs separated them from their first trip to the win column. Joe LaSorsa was asked to secure the final six. The lefty started in Los Angeles for the first time in his collegiate career, but was much more effective in his usual multi-inning bullpen role. He shut down the Catamounts in the sixth and seventh, racking up three strikeouts and his ninth career save. More importantly, he saved the rest of the bullpen from exhaustion with nine more innings still on the agenda. Game two started innocently enough. It was a classic back-and-forth affair for the first seven frames. McGeehan blasted another homer in the second, and one more for good measure in the sixth. The JUCO transfer, moved from eighth in the order to fourth for the nightcap, finished
the day with four hits, three of which cleared the fences. Junior left-hander Jeff Belge had the ball to start. Sunday wasn’t any kinder than his rocky season debut. Justice Bigbie beat him with a longball to give Western Carolina the lead in the third, but Belge’s problems were mostly of his own creation. He walked three and threw a pair of wild pitches, one of which plated a run. Blankmeyer let him surrender a single before pulling him with nobody out in the fourth. His early-season ERA sits at an unsightly 12.00. Fordham transfer Ben Greenberg was fine in relief after a homer to the first batter he faced. He allowed just the one hit over three innings. Righty Joe Kelly and lefty Turner French played the matchups to piece together the seventh inning. The Catamounts clung to a 5-4 lead headed to the fateful eighth. A late game meltdown did a number for the second straight Sunday. Western Carolina sent 14 men to the plate in the penultimate frame. Eight of them made it back around to score. The Johnnies needed four pitchers to record three outs. The small sample size ERAs are ugly. The Catamounts took the second game, 13-4. St. John’s is 1-4, their worst start since a six-game February losing streak in 2014. Sunnier San Diego awaits next weekend. The Johnnies head west for seven games, starting at 9pm on Friday night.
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Feb. 27: Men’s Tennis vs. Fairleigh Dickinson.
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Feb. 28: Men’s Basketball vs. Xavier, 6:30 p.m.
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March 1-2: Track & Field at ECAC Championship.
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March 1: Softball vs. Boston College, 11:00 a.m.
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March 1: Softball vs. Central Michigan, 1:30 p.m.
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March 1: Baseball at University of San Diego, 9:00 p.m.
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March 2: Lacrosse vs. University of Michigan, 12:00 p.m.
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March 2: Softball vs. University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, 4:00 p.m.
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March 2: Softball vs. Georgia Southern, 6:30 p.m.
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March 2: Baseball at University of San Diego, 7:30 p.m.