The Red Storm lacrosse team is looking to rebound from a loss at Massachusetts (April 7) with an away meeting with the Nittany Lions of Penn State, Saturday afternoon at Jeffrey Field. Face-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. on April 14.
• St. John’s (4-6, 1-3 ECAC) will face its third straight ECAC Lacrosse League opponent. In the past month, the Red Storm has won three out of its last five games. Penn State (3-5, 2-2 ECAC) is coming off a 12-7 victory over the Hobart Statesman on April 7.
• The meeting is the third between the two opponents, the second at Jeffrey Field. The teams last collided on Saturday, April 15 at DaSilva Memorial Field. The Nittany Lions defeated the Red Storm 13-3. Last time out at Jeffrey Field, the Red Storm was edged by the Nittany Lions 12-4.
• Last time out, the Red Storm fell 11-7 at Garber Field at University of Massachusetts. The Red Storm went on a four-goal scoring streak in the second period, but couldn’t hold on to the 6-3 lead as the Minutemen came back in the second half with a eight goal finish. With the loss at UMass, the Red Storm is still looking for its second ECAC win of the season.
• Up next the Red Storm will return to DaSilva Memorial on April 21 to play its final game of 2007. St. John’s will face-off against the Hobart Statesmen at 1 p.m. The Red Storm seniors, T.J. O’Shea, Anthony Bozymowski, Rick Ruggles and George Kaleh will be honored for their dedication to the lacrosse program.
Last Time Out Against the Nittany Lions
• St. John’s and Penn State last collided on April 15, 2006 at DaSilva Memorial Field as the Nittany Lions defeated the Red Storm, 13-3. Attackman Rob Gannon led the Red Storm offense, scoring two goals, making nine for 2006. Tom Michaelsen recorded the final goal, while Rick Ruggles picked up an assist.
Storm Tracker
Manes Storming Through A Late Season Scoring Roll
• In the last two Red Storm contests, midfielder Tom Manes has led the Red Storm scoring efforts with three points in both the St. John’s victory over Rutgers (March 31) and its recent loss to Massachusetts (April 7). Since the Red Storm’s 9-8 victory over Quinnipiac on March 13, Manes has scored at least one goal or assist in five games. Manes is tied with Justin O’Donnell for third in points with 16, half of which he has earned in the last three games.
O’Donnell And Michaelsen Move Up In Red Storm’s All-Time Scoring List
• Midfielder Justin O’Donnell and attackman Tom Michaelsen started the season with 47 and 57 career points, respectively. In 10 games thus far this season, O’Donnell has advanced his career point total to 63, moving up one spot to No. 16, while Michaelsen’s 26 points this season advances him to 13th on the record list with 82 points in 36 games played. If his scoring streak continues, Michaelsen is on par to crumple Chris Johnston’s 107 career goals in 58 games, set in 1988-1992.
Red Storm In The National Top 10
• According to the most recent statistics released by the NCAA, the Red Storm is ranked 10th in man-down defense with an 78.1 kill percentage with just 13 goals allowed on 64 man-down situations. Dartmouth leads the NCAA with an 86.3 percent penalty killing percentage.
• The Red Storm is ranked in six additional categories:
• 29th in Scoring Defense (8.8) • 45th in Scoring Margin (-1.8)
• 35th in Win Percentage (.400) • 49th in Scoring Offense (7.0)
• 36th in Face-Off Win Percentage (.462) • 50th in Man-Up Offense (.167)
• Individually, the Red Storm has five athletes in the NCAA Top 100 in their respective specialties. Attackman Michaelsen is ranked in the Top 100 in all three offensive categories: points per game, goals per game and assists per game. He is 67th in points per game (2.6), 74th in goals per game (1.7) and 56th in assists per game (1.0). Midfielder and the Red Storm’s leading face-off man, Jack Rosson, moves up a spot to No. 23 in ground balls per game (4.7) and 35th in face-off win percentage (.479). Offensively, Trevor Michaelsen, a junior attackman is ranked 62nd in goals per game (1.7) and Manes is tied with Tom Michaelsen at No. 62 in assists per game (1.0), feeding three goals in the Rutgers win (March 31) and adding one against UMass (Apr. 7). On defense, Mike Luyster ranks moves up 17 spots to 62nd in the country in ground balls per game with 3.4.
St. John’s Scores First ECAC Win Since 2005
• On March 31, four minutes into the four period, O'Donnell helped make Red Storm lacrosse history as he sent the game-winning goal past Rutgers goaltender Bill Olin to give St. John's its first win over a conference opponent since the program's reinstatement in 2005. Two minutes later, junior Tom Michaelsen sealed the deal for the Red Storm as the team celebrated its 6-4 win over the Scarlet Knights on DaSilva Memorial. The win gave the Red Storm a two-game win streak, and came during a week where the Scarlet Knights received national votes.
Michaelsen Two-Time ECAC Honor Roll Selection (4/2/07)
• Junior Tom Michaelsen earned his second straight ECAC Honor Roll selection for his two goals against Rutgers (March 31). Michaelsen is ninth in the league in points per game (2.78 per game), and assists per game (1.11/game) and continues to lead the Red Storm in points with 25. Michaelsen also shared an earned ECAC Honor Roll selection with O'Donnell last week as they combined for ten points in the Red Storm's win against Siena (March 21).
Home Field Advantage
• On DaSilva Memorial Field, the Red Storm holds a 3-1 home field advantage. After losing the home-opener to the then-No. 1 ranked Georgetown Hoyas, the Red Storm has defeated three consecutive opponents in front of its hometown crowd, 9-3 over Lafayette (March 6), 9-8 over Quinnipiac (March 13), and its first ever ECAC win since 2005, 6-4 over Rutgers (March 31).
O’Donnell, Michaelsen Score Career-Best Efforts Against Siena
• O’Donnell and Tom Michaelsen earned March 26th ECAC Honor Roll selection for their combined 10 point performance against Siena (March 21). O’Donnell, an Island Trees High School alum, scored a career-high of five goals with his first hat trick of the season and the sixth of his career. Michaelsen netted four goals and an assist of his own, his third three-goal effort this season and also the sixth hat trick of his career.
Rookie Spotlight: Goldberg the Goalie
• Hewlett High School alumnus Dan Goldberg earned another ECAC mention for the week of March 13. Goldberg, a transfer from the U.S.M.A. Prep School tallied another double-digit save performance against the No. 19 Drexel Dragons, muting 23 of the Dragon’s goal efforts. Conferencewise, Goldberg leads the ECAC in saves per game (13.29) and is third in saver percentage (.600). Junior goaltender Dave Saccente and Goldberg are ranked eighth and ninth in the league in goals against average, respectively.
• Goldberg made his first collegiate appearance and start against the then-No. 1 ranked Georgetown Hoyas (ECAC), Goldberg has taken over as starting goaltender. He also earned ECAC Honor Roll mentions for his performance against league favorite Georgetown. Against No. 19 Drexel, Goldberg muted a career-best 23 shots.
The Brothers from Bethpage
• So far this season, the Michaelsen twins lead the Red Storm offense with a combined 46 points (33G, 13A). Trevor Michaelsen has a team high of 17 goals, scoring a career best four against Bellarmine (Feb. 24) adding three assists for his season best of seven points. Tom Michaelsen is close behind in goals (16) and leads the team in both points and assists with 26 and 10 respectively. Both twins had matching hat tricks in the Red Storm’s 9-8 victory at home against the Bobcats of Quinnipiac. Tom has scored hat tricks in each of the Red Storm’s victories: Lafayette (March 6), Quinnipiac (March 13) and Siena (March 21). Trevor, who has made an immediate impact playing his first year for St. John’s after transferring from Rutgers in 2005, averages almost two goals a game in nine games played thus far. He has had hat tricks against Bellarmine (Feb. 24) and Quinnipiac (March 13). Both twins have scored a point in the past nine contests. Neither twin scored a point in the season opener against Bucknell.
Against Ranked Opponents
• So far this season, St. John’s has competed against four USILA Top 20 opponents, No. 12 Bucknell (Feb. 17), No. 5 Georgetown (March 3), No. 13 Loyola (March 17) and No. 16 Drexel (March 10).
• Down 4-2 against then-No. 15 Loyola going into the third period, the Red Storm held a ranked team to just a two goal lead going into the second half for the third time all season (4-2, vs, Georgetown on March 3 and 3-2 vs. Bucknell on Feb. 18).
• The Red Storm held the then-No. 1 ranked Georgetown Hoyas (March 3) to just four goals going into the third period. The defense stayed strong throughout the contest, holding the Hoyas to just 12 goals in 58 shots.
One for the Books
• Against the then-No. 1 ranked Georgetown Hoyas, St. John's set an attendance record of 708 fans at DaSilva Memorial Field. The crowd was the greatest at any home game since the return of the lacrosse program. The last highest attendance record was set at 608 also against Georgetown in 2005.
Offensive Highs
• Against Bellarmine (Feb. 24) Bobby Fitton and junior transfer Trevor Michaelsen each scored a career high four goals. Fitton saw time in 12 games, starting seven last season. He marked 10 points for the year with six goals and four assists. His four goals against Bellarmine puts him on course to triple his 2006 season total.
Coaching Changes For The Red Storm
• Fall 2006 saw significant changes to the Red Storm sidelines as former head coach Rick Sowell traveled down the Long Island Expressway to head up the Stony Brook Seawolves. St. John's brought in the expertise of Coach Jason Miller, a former three-year first assistant at the University of Massachusetts.
• Miller named Dan Paccione and former Red Storm captain John Kutner as his assistants. Paccione, who will head up the 2007 Red Storm offense, currently plays midfield for Major League Lacrosse's Chicago Machine, while Kutner, a St. John’s alum, and a junior college All-American, will direct the defense.
Scouting the Nittany Lions
• Penn State is coming off a 12-7 league win over visiting Hobart. The Nittany Lion defense held the nation’s fifth-ranked scoring offense to only one second half goal on its way to the win. Sophomore Drew Adams had 15 saves and classmate Rob Forster notched a hat trick to lead Penn State to the victory.
• The Nittany Lion defense, led by seniors Dan Saltsman and Devin Kennedy and sophomore John Stuckey allowed Hobart to score three times in the game’s first eight minutes and then clamped down on the Statesmen. Hobart scored only one goal after the break. Max Van Arsdale had four points off two goals and two assists while sophomore Rob Forster had a hat-trick with three goals.
• Saltsman earned ECAC Co-Defender of the Week honors (April 9) for his defensive performance against the Statesmen. He helped shut down HC’s offensive leader Dan Veltman, holding the attacker to only one goal on four shots. Saltsman also picked up two ground balls. Van Arsdale also picked up ECAC Weekly honors with an honor roll selection.
• Gil Pearsall leads Penn State with 15 points off 11 goals and four assists while Brian Boyle checks in with 13 points in five games and a team-best .500 shot percentage. Pat Heim has 11 points off nine and two as well.
• In the overtime loss at UMass on March 31, sophomore goalie Drew Adams had a season-high 20 saves in 26 shots on goal for a 77 percent save percentage. Adams has an 8.14 goals against average with 100 saves and a team-high 58 ground balls. He is second in the ECAC behind Rutgers’ Bill Olin. Adams is also second behind Goldberg i saves per game with 12.50.
• Defensively, the Nittany Lions are nationally ranked in the top 20, allowing an averaged of just 8.13 goals per game.
For the most up-to-date information and statistics on St. John’s athletics please visit www.RedStormSports.com or call our hotline at 1-888-GO-STORM.
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