QNE_p094

QC02252016

66 THE QUEENS COURIER • FEBRUARY 25, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com sports Persistence pays off for Mullin’s Red Storm squad Chris Mullin knew he was beginning to sound like a broken record. The St. John’s rookie coach kept telling his young squad if they kept working, kept playing hard, that fi rst Big East Conference win would come. As loss after loss after loss mounted, Mullin never wavered. He saw his team almost beat Xavier, a nationally ranked Top 10 squad, in Carnesecca Arena. He saw the Johnnies give No. 1-ranked Villanova all it could handle before falling in The Garden. Mullin never hedged in his message: BWG soccer stars sign up with major college programs BY THE QUEENS COURIER STAFF editorial@qns.com/@qns The Blau Weiss Gottschee youth soccer program has come a long way in recent years. At the outset, it produced a handful of players who advanced in later years to national and professional teams. But this winter, BWG has much to celebrate, as nine members of its Under 18 Academy signed letters of intent to attend colleges nationwide with prominent soccer programs of their own. These incoming college freshmen began playing with BWG at the age of eight, according to Ovid Cusu of BWG. Under the guidance of coaches Denise McGowen and Paul McGlynn, they began play in the Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League. Over the years, this crop of soccer stars went through a few changes and national championships to boot, accomplishing at one point a midseason 15-0 record in the USSF Academy League. The academy squad won games against academy teams affi liated with MLS franchises DC United, New England Revolution, Montreal Impact, Houston Dynamo and the San Jose Earthquakes. The U18 Academy members include Benjamin Issroff, who is heading to Princeton University; Bernie Wright, Bucknell University; Christian St. Louis, Stony Brook University; Casey Barone, University of Pennsylvania; Conor McGlynn, Siena College; Dylan Nealis, Georgetown University; Kevin Lozada, Virginia Tech; Matthew Swain, Columbia University; and Sean McGowan, Princeton University. As these BWG stars head off to college, BWG continues to grow new stars. Last week, many of the program’s younger squads captured fi rst- and second-place prizes at various local tournaments. In the Brooklyn Italian indoor tournament, the BWG won fi rst place in the U10 group (2006 White), U11 group (2005 Blue), Girls U11 (2005 Girls), U12 group (2004 Blue) and U13 group (2003 White). The 2007 Royals team took home second place in the U9 group. Meanwhile, the 2003 Pre- Academy team won fi rst- and second-place prizes at the Cosmopolitan Junior Soccer League Indoor Tournament; the U14 Academy Team won the Capelli University Futsal Tournament; and the U13 Pre- Academy Team fi nished in second in the TST Futsal League in College Point. Casey Barone Dylan Nealis Sean McGowan Conor McGlynn Do the right things and the win will come. He was right. Not only did the Johnnies snap a 16-game losing streak, they gave Mullin his fi rst league win with a resounding 80-65 rout of DePaul. The Red Storm had lost its fi rst 13 league games before breaking through. “We got one,” crowed senior Ron Mvouika. “It’s about damn time. We’re not done but it feels great.” For Mullin, the win wasn’t about him. “I’m happy for the guys in the locker room,” Mullin said. “They’ve worked really hard, and probably more importantly, their approach and attitude every day has been really impressive. From that standpoint, there’s somewhat of a relief. “As a coach, you can only do so much. They’ve gotta break through themselves. That was the next step. They’ve played well enough in segments of games, but it’s been a long time since we came out on the winning end.” There were some St. John’s fans that were beginning to wonder if the Red Storm would go winless in league play this season. It certainly was beginning to look that way, understandably so. Mullin cobbled together this roster in just a few months before the start of the season. Expectations weren’t high, but even by that measure, the losing began to sting. At the MLK Day March in mid- January, a fan wearing a red St. John’s hoodie expressed his feelings. “The Big East is a tough deal,” said Jerome Mumbry of Harlem, where the parade took place. “I was going to be patient because Coach Mullin is a Hall of Famer and he’s a St. John’s man. “But losing’s rough, man. They got to fi nd a way to get a couple of wins in the league so they can start building a foundation for next year.” Which is exactly what Mullin is doing. It’s a hard balancing act. He needs to coach for this season, for these players knowing he’s outmanned and at a severe talent disadvantage. But he also needs to keep one eye on the future. He’s already had some recruiting success. Freshman Kassoum Yakwe scored 11 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and had four blocks against DePaul. Fellow freshman Federico Mussini scored 17 second-half points. The Johnnies got a standing ovation as the game ended. Although there have been some blowout losses, the Red Storm has competed most of the time. It’s a credit to Mullin, whose work ethic as a player was unmatched. “What we’ve been talking about as a group, it takes a lot to be a good player, it takes a lot to be a winning team,” Mullin said. “It doesn’t just happen. You can’t map out, what that road is, what that journey is. Things aren’t handed to you. “If this is the toughest thing you go through you’re in pretty good shape.” ros- ROBBINS’ NEST by Lenn Robbins Chris Mullin


QC02252016
To see the actual publication please follow the link above