St. John's Scores Early, Often to Top Friars
from press release
QUEENS, N.Y. – St. John’s scored
six goals in the first quarter, including two from sophomore Harry
Kutner, as the Red Storm rolled past Providence for a 13-5
victory.
St. John’s (5-5, 2-1) won its second straight BIG EAST game
and moved to 3-1 at home this season. Providence (0-8, 0-2) lost
for the second time in conference play.
The Red Storm opened the scoring just six seconds into the game as
freshman Jordan Rothman picked up the opening faceoff on the run
and hit classmate Tyler Novotny who quickly fired home his fourth
goal of the season.
Kutner kept the pressure on as he scored two straight goals at the
13:20 and 9:00 marks, with freshman Jarrett Carr assisting on the
second one. Kutner finished with a season-high four goals to push
his season total to 14. His effort marked the third straight game
that a Red Storm player has scored four goals after Lagodich and
Manes reached the mark against Penn State (3/27) and Rutgers
(4/3).
Dillon Ayers continued the first-quarter scoring off a failed Friar
clear attempt as he found the goal off a pass from senior defensive
midfielder Reggie Davis. The assist marked the first of the year
for Davis and the third of his career, while the goal kicked off a
very impressive day for Ayers. The freshman from Lynbrook, N.Y.,
finished with three points on one goal and two assists along with a
team-high seven ground balls and four caused turnovers.
Ryan Herits scored at the 6:15 mark to push the lead to 5-0 and
midfielder Alex Lagodich capped the scoring run with a goal at the
4:11 mark with St. John’s sporting a three-man advantage
after multiple Providence penalties. Herits finished with a
career-high two goals in the game.
“Offensively we got off to a great start and we shot the ball
well early,” said head coach Jason Miller. “The riding
game was big. We kept the pressure on a lot of the time and ended
up playing a lot of extra offense as a result. We were able to bump
a pole up and it worked out well for us today."
Providence committed eight turnovers on clear attempts leading to a
10-18 mark on clears for the game. The Friars turned the ball over
a total of 21 times and St. John’s held a 23-16 advantage in
ground balls.
After Providence scored three straight goals to pull the game to
6-3 in the second quarter, the Red Storm responded with three of
its own as Kutner, Lagodich and Novotny all found the goal yet
again. Senior Tom Manes made the assist on Lagodich’s goal to
bring his season assist total to ten, leading the team.
Both team’s defenses settled down in the second half as
freshman Jeff Lowman held the Friars to just two goals while making
five saves. Lowman finished the game with seven saves and just five
goals allowed, a season-best effort as he moved to 3-1 as a
starter. Senior Gavin Buckley saw action in the final minutes in
goal, making one save.
Along with Ayers’ seven ground balls, juniors Mike Sherry and
Dan Cremens combined for four ground balls while Rothman collected
six in a 13-21 effort at the faceoff X.
Sophomore Charlie Holenstein notched two goals in the second half,
including the final one with 2:41 remaining to push the margin to
13-5. Holenstein finished with three points on two goals and one
assist.
St. John’s hit the road next week as the team battles BIG
EAST foe Villanova next Saturday night at 7 p.m.
