Women's Basketball
The St. John's women's basketball team beat Dayton 73-61 in the
consolation round of the Buckeye Classic December 21 in Columbus,
OH. Ohio State and Pennsylvania will play for the championship in
game two.
Shemika Stevens led St. John's, who had four players in
double-figures, with 15 points, as the Red Storm improve to 5-5 on
the season. St. John's pulled out to an early 11-4 lead on a lay-up
by Stevens four minutes into the game. Dayton hung around and
slowly lessened the Red Storm lead, cutting it to one halfway
through the period. Stevens' good free throws on the next
possession kicked off a 7-1 run by St. John's, which was capped by
a made three by Secrett Stubblefield to put St. John's back up by
seven.
St. John's took an eight point lead, their biggest of the first
half, on a basket by Angie Clark before the Flyers cut the lead to
five with a three-point play by Stefanie Miller to end the
half.
Dayton pulled within one on the first possession of the second
half on a three by Miller and stayed there for the first six
minutes, as the teams traded baskets. The Red Storm went back up by
seven when Danielle Chambers and Reka Szavuly combined for
six-straight points. Dayton's Emily Williams answered with a three,
but six more points from Chambers kept St. John's ahead 45-39 with
under 10 minutes to play.
Another Dayton three by Miller cut the lead to 52-48 with five
minutes left, but Szavuly answered with a three and Stevens added
one of her own on the next play. Kati Kurtosi's jumper on the next
possession put St. John's up by 12 points with under four minutes
left.
The Flyers comeback attempt, which included three three-pointers
from Miller, was squashed as Stevens and Szavuly connected on four
free throws each down the stretch, leading the Red Storm to the
73-61 win.
Men's Soccer
In the final season rankings from the National Soccer Coaches
Association, St. John's Men’s Soccer was slated number two, behind
the national champion Hoosiers. It is the highest final season
ranking for a Red Storm men's soccer team since 1996, when the team
won the NCAA title.
After starting the season with a 0-2 record, the Red Storm
reeled off five-straight wins - including a 3-0 win over then No.
4-ranked Notre Dame. A road loss to Seton Hall and a tie at William
and Mary would be followed by yet another five-game win streak,
capped with a double-overtime win at Connecticut. A loss to
Virginia Tech on the road made the BIG EAST race tight, but the
team won back-to-back home games - against Boston College and
Florida International - before beating West Virginia, 2-1, to wrap
up the team's fifth BIG EAST regular season title.
At the BIG EAST Tournament, the Red Storm rallied back from a
1-0 deficit late in the game - with junior Ryan Kelly tying the
game with four minutes left - and eventually won it in penalty
kicks, as graduate student Guy Hertz saved two shots.
After losing to Notre Dame in the championship game, the Red
Storm learned of their NCAA Tournament fate - a No. 6 seed and a
first round bye - with a national television audience on ESPN News,
as the team watched the selection show and appeared live from Times
Square.
The team faced one of its rivals – U Conn - in the second round
and the match was one of the best in the short history of Belson
Stadium. After scoreless play through 90 minutes of regulation
play, and another 20 of overtime, the game headed to penalty kicks.
Hertz again came up big, and senior Simone Salinno tallied the
decisive goal, in a 4-2 win. In the third round, St. John's topped
a tough UC Santa Barbara team, 3-2, in overtime, with Kelly scoring
two goals in the game. The Red Storm reached the quarterfinals in
peculiar fashion.
A snowstorm forced the team to postpone the game on December 5
against Creighton to December 7. But as more snow rolled into New
York on the off day, the game was moved to Maryland. Creighton, who
ended the Red Storm's season in 2002, jumped out to a 2-0 lead
midway through the second half and held a man-advantage after a St.
John's player was issued a red card in the first half. A score from
Kelly and a penalty kick from senior Chris Wingert tied the game,
and Salinno scored with 11 minutes left to give the team one of its
most dramatic wins in program history. Sophomore Sebastian
Alvarado-Ralph scored on a penalty kick in the first half and the
team beat Maryland, 1-0, in the NCAA Semifinals.
Despite the St. John's men's soccer team losing to Indiana, 2-1,
in the NCAA title game on Sunday at Columbus Crew Stadium, the Red
Storm's 2003 season will go down as one of the most successful in
program history.