It seems as though the St. John’s Men’s Soccer team has finally began to hit their stride this season. This past week the Red Storm was first able to pick up a crucial 1-1 draw on the road at Wisconsin on Friday, before traveling home to defeat Connecticut 3-1 on Tuesday.

The Red Storm would first look to pick up a key win as they traveled to Madison, WI on Friday for a tough road matchup with the Wisconsin Badgers.

After a somewhat shaky start, the Red Storm would settle down and begin to build some momentum, eventually culminating with freshman midfielder Mohamed Awad finding the net for a goal in the 41^st minute. The goal, Awad’s first of his career, would be set in motion by a booming punt from junior goalkeeper Jordan Stagmiller, making him the first St. John’s goalie since 2010 to tally an assist in a game.

After the Red Storm took a 1-0 lead into the half, Wisconsin would equalize almost immediately in the second, scoring off a header in the 48^th minute. From there the teams would trade scoring chances, but after 90 minutes of play the game would remain tied at one.

The Red Storm would have a few scoring chances in the two overtime periods to secure a win, but none of them would come to fruition, as they’d have to settle for a 1-1 draw.

The Johnnies would then travel back home to Belson Stadium on Tuesday night for a matchup with their former Big East rivals, the Connecticut Huskies. There would be no shortage of highlight plays in the first half of this one, as three goals would be scored within the game’s first 11 minutes.

The first goal went to St. John’s, as Awad would score his second goal in as many games after delivering a beautiful strike to the top right corner of the net in the 4^th minute. After UCONN responded with a goal less than three minutes later to tie the game, it would be senior defender Marco Bordon who would put in a rebound for the Red Storm to make it 2-1.

St. John’s would extend their lead towards the end of the first half after senior defender Casey Osborne connected with sophomore defender Simon Tchoukriel in the 39^th minute to make it 3-1. The second half would be a largely defensive one for the Johnnies, but they were able to keep the Huskies off the scoreboard to secure a 3-1 victory.

The Red Storm would be without their senior captain Tim Parker for this match, after he picked up a red card in their previous game at Wisconsin. Nonetheless, coach Dave Masur seemed happy with the rest of his team’s performance. “I thought it was fantastic, it was great that everybody chipped in,” he said. “Tim is a great player for us, and it’s just nice to see everybody step up and contribute.”

Next up for St. John’s will be their first conference game of the year, a road matchup at Xavier on Saturday.