Last season, St. John’s lacrosse had a season to forget.
The Red Storm managed just one win on the entire season, and finished 1-13 overall. This season is a completely different story. Not only have they surpassed that win total, but they have a perfect record at home, and a 4-2 record in six games.
It started with an impressive effort against Rutgers to open the season. The Johnnies took on the eighth-ranked Scarlet Knights in Piscataway, N.J. Rutgers went on a 4-1 scoring run in the second quarter, but the Red Storm battled until the end. Sophomore Matt Oehl scored a goal late, but the Johnnies fell to Rutgers 12-8. St. John’s finished the game with five different goal scorers, including two-goal games from senior Jason DeBenedictis and junior Colin Duffy.
Another impressive effort was a game that went down to the wire against No. 10 North Carolina on March 3 at Kenan Field.
St. John’s was coming off three straight wins, and limited the Tar Heels to nine goals thanks to great goaltending from Matt Hanley, who turned away 15 shots. Duffy once again added a pair of goals, along with sophomore Joe Madsen.
Hanley and Duffy were honored by the Big East for their performance. Hanley was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Week, and Duffy was selected to the Big East Honor Roll.
Ryan Schaeffer tied the game at eight with 7:08 to play after Joe Madsen cut the deficit to one late in the third. With 18.5 seconds to go, DeBenedictis fired a shot wide that gave North Carolina possession. As the clock ran down, the Tar Heels scored with 6.8 seconds to go, ending the bid for an upset.
The team was able to recover from the loss days later. St. John’s recently picked up their fourth win at home against Siena with 11 goals in the first half.
Senior Corey Haynes registered his first five-point game, and the Red Storm held on to win 14-7. This performance came after a 12-goal game from St. John’s in a win over St. Joseph’s.
The team will stay in Queens for its next two games, first being a St. Patrick’s Day matchup against Dartmouth (2-2), and then a game against Hofstra.
With their performances and scoring at this pace, last season will be only but a distant memory.
