Andre Schmid was not happy with his first-half performance.

The St. John’s senior missed a clear opportunity early in his team’s 1-0 win against DePaul at Belson Stadium Saturday night.

“I had one [shot] in the first half that I was disappointed with, I was open and I didn’t keep it on frame,” Schmid said. “I was just happy I had an opportunity to redeem myself.”

And redeem he did in front of the wind-burnt and wet crowd of 1,368.

The midfielder scored the lone goal in the Red Storm’s victory by masterfully placing a free kick, curling it around the Blue Demon’s wall of defenders. It was Schmid’s fourth goal of the season.

“Usually I’ll go in [on the wall], because I’m a bigger guy, I block more space,” Schmid said.

Fortunately for the Johnnies he took the kick instead.

“I knew the goalie wasn’t going to get there, because he can’t see [with the wall in front of him],” Schmid said. – “I hit it perfect.”

St. John’s (8-3-4, 6-1-2) had been threatening all match before Schmid’s 83rd minute score, out shooting DePaul 18-1.

Red Storm junior Danny Dragoi split two defenders and was brought down about 25 yards from the net to set up Schmid’s clutch free kick.

Schmid, who was hit in his lower back on a header early in the first half, was just glad he played the rest of the game √¢?” a rain-soaked one that featured winds blowing in excess of 20 miles per hour.

Normally, the 6-foot-4 Schmid’s philosophy is to rip shots from just about anywhere when that kind of weather is prevalent.

But, after injuring the small of his back early in the match, he had a more pressing concern.

“I started off thinking [my normal philosophy],” said Schmid, who missed a large portion of the first half and some of the second. “Then [after the back injury] I started thinking, please let me make it through.”

DePaul (3-9-2, 1-6-1) used the standard defensive strategy against St. John’s that many other teams have this season, playing most of its players behind the ball with hopes to counterattack and get numbers after a Red Storm turnover.

Most of the game was played in the Blue Demons’ defensive third of the field and the home team controlled possession throughout. DePaul did not take a single corner kick and St. John’s goalkeeper Jason Landers only recorded one save, off a non-threatening free kick by Luke Rojo from 25 yards out.

The weather only added to the unattractive play. Winds whipped through Belson at about 24 miles per hour and rain went from a light drizzle to a heavy poor sporadically throughout.

“It was kind of one-way traffic,” St. John’s coach Dave Masur said. “It wasn’t the prettiest of games.”

The St. John’s win and Saturday’s 3-0 South Florida loss to Rutgers pulls the Red Storm to one point behind the Big East Red Division-leading Bulls.

St. John’s was scheduled to play at Villanova this past Wednesday and will take on Rutgers at home Saturday for Senior Night and the regular season finale.