sports
74 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 23, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
St. John’s has high hopes as they
embark on new soccer campaign
Th e St. John’s Red Storm men’s soccer
team offi cially kicks off their 2018 campaign
this weekend on the West Coast
— and there’s plenty of hope that they’ll
continue to build on a successful previous
season.
Th e Red Storm begins its 28th season
under the direction of head coach
Dr. Dave Masur at 10:30 p.m. on Friday
night, Aug. 24, on the road against UC
Santa Barbara.
Last season, the Johnnies were predicted
to come in eighth before posting a
league record of 5-2-2, good enough for a
third-place regular season fi nish and the
program’s best mark in BIG EAST action
since 2009.
It was good enough for the Big East,
in its preseason coaches’ poll released on
Aug. 15, to pick the Red Storm to fi nish
seventh.
With a roster featuring 25 newcomers,
the 2018 Red Storm enjoyed a successful
preseason, earning positive results against
a pair of nationally ranked opponents.
Th e Johnnies return eight players
from last year’s squad, including three
of the team’s top fi ve goals scorers in
Jack Shearer, Filippo Ricupati and Matt
Forster. Shearer was unanimously selected
to the Big East All-Freshman Team at
the conclusion of the 2017 regular season.
Playing its fi rst opponent of the preseason
ranked outside the top 25, the St.
John’s men’s soccer team completed an
undefeated exhibition slate with a 5-2 win
over LIU Brooklyn on a rainy Saturday
night, Aug. 18, at Belson Stadium.
Five diff erent players scored for St.
John’s, which did not score fi ve times in a
regular season match since November of
2013. Matt Forster, Mauricio Rivas, Josiah
Crawford, Tanitoluwa Oluwaseyi and
Brandon Duarte all etched their names
on the scoresheet, while Niko Petridis
registered a pair of assists. Forster and
Oluwaseyi also added one assist apiece in
addition to their goals.
Meanwhile, Red Storm fans will have
plenty of chances to watch the Johnnies
on the pitch this season. In addition to the
seven games already slated to be carried
on the Big East Digital Network (BEDN)
presented by SoFi, the Red Storm will
have fi ve of its six remaining home games
broadcast on ESPN3 and through the
WatchESPN app, giving fans the opportunity
to enjoy the Johnnies from anywhere
in the world.
Four of the Red Storm’s fi ve ESPN3
broadcasts will come during non-conference
play, beginning with the team’s
home opener against Fairfi eld on Aug.
31 at 8 p.m.
All of the Red Storm’s ESPN3 games will
be produced by SJU-TV, the award-winning
multimedia wing of the St. John’s
athletic department. Since the start of the
2012-13 academic year, SJU-TV has carried
out nearly 400 broadcasts that were
delivered live in HD quality to nearly
100 million homes on ESPN3 and FOX
Sports GO.
In addition, the Red Storm’s tilt vs.
Mount St. Mary’s on Sept. 25 at 7 p.m.
will be aired through RedStormSports.
com and produced by SJU-TV.
Courtesy Red Storm Sports