Storm Chronicles: Cincinnati

Posted By Matt Choquette

7:23 – Cincinnati Scouting Report: Check out redstormsports.com for the full preview of tonight’s nationally televised game against the Bearcats (7-8-2, 4-5-1). The game can be seen on Fox Soccer Channel. Sophomore Branden Stelmak paces the offense with four goals and one assist. Cincy is not exactly known for its goal scoring. The defense has been stellar of late, coming into Queens after back-to-back 1-0 wins against Syracuse and No. 11 USF. Goalkeeper Matt Williams has had a huge hand in all seven wins and two draws. Every point earned from a game this season has been a shutout. St. John’s offense is going to have to come to play tonight.

Men’s soccer live blog!

Posted By Matt Choquette

Friendly reminder: Friday, Oct. 31 was supposed to be the final regular season game for the Red Storm men’s soccer team, but thanks to some typical, early New Jersey snow, the Oct. 28 Rutgers game has been postponed until Monday.

Regardless, I will be attending the final St. John’s regular season home game of ‘08 on Friday at Belson Stadium and will be updating a running diary for the match. Join me on this blog at 7:30 p.m. for pregame and refresh the page often for in-depth, insightful and often asinine analysis of the No. 4 college soccer team in the nation.

I can view comments while I’m updating, so feel free to inject your input as the action progresses. Just make sure you know the terms six-kick and bicycle kick before you join the conversation, and everything will run smoothly.

Happy blogging!

Big East Football Picks-Week 10

Posted by Bill San Antonio

We missed you guys last week, but now we’re back with a vengance-ok not really but I thought it sounded cool. Matt and I agree on three of four picks this week, so instead we choose to disagree on other things.

23South Florida/Cincinnati (+3)

Matt: Once again, USF needs this game and that extra drive should push them to a win on the road. But don’t sleep on Cincy’s talent combined with the Bulls nasty habit of dropping huge games down the stretch (they lost three straight last year after being ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll). We know Matt Grothe can pass the ball (273 yards per game), but the one thing that will bring them down against the Bearcats is a repeat of last week’s poor rushing performance. Grothe and tailback Mike Ford combined for -14 rushing yards in the loss to Louisville last Saturday. Ford did not start the game because of a lingering ankle injury, and that might be a factor again this week. But if they balance the attack, they will easily handle Cincinnati.

Bill: The Bulls have stumbled a bit, losing key conference games to Pitt and Louisville last week. They are still the best team in the conference, taking on a vulnerable Cincinnati team this week that conceded 40 to Connecticut last week. USF has to move the ball on the ground. Matt Grothe may be extremely talented (30 of 40 last week), but even he can’t do it all himself (USF lost 24-20). The offense has to click the way it did against Syracuse two weeks ago. Cincinnati will put up a pride fight, but South Florida will pull it out.

ESPN/USA Today Top 25 Released

Posted By Andrew Silverman

The ESPN/USA Today Top 25 preseason men’s baskeball coach’s poll was released this morning and the competition is projected to be at an all-time best this coming season for the Red Storm.

After wrapping up the 2007-08 season with six teams in the Top 25, the Big East has a record seven ranked teams to open up the season.

Louisville and Connecticut have the highest expectations, taking the No. 2 and No. 3 spots in the poll, respectively.

Pittsburgh came in at No. 6 and Notre Dame at No. 9, rounding out the top ten teams. This is also the first time the Big East has four teams in the top ten in a national preseason poll.

The other teams that made the grade include Marquette at No. 17, Georgetown at No. 18 and Villanova at No. 25.

Syracuse and West Virginia also received votes.

Men’s soccer injury update

Posted By Matt Choquette

Looking ahead to the playoffs (sorry, Jim Mora), here is the updated injury report from Coach Masur. There’s some good news and bad news. What do you want to hear first? Rhetorical question…

Out: Junior forward Adam Himeno. Not only for Friday’s home bout with Cincinnati, but for the rest of the season. When he was injured in mid-September, it was expected for him to return for the regular season stretch and certainly the postseason. This certainly is not good news, but St. John’s found a way all season long to fill the offensive void left by Himeno’s absence. He scored three goals in ‘08 before going down with a fractured foot in practice. It’s interesting to imagine where this team would be with contributions from this talented goal scorer. It looks like the staff would rather focus on having him 100 percent for his senior year.

Questionable: Freshman forward Walter Hines. Masur lists Hines as day-to-day with a lingering hamstring injury. The frosh began to receive some starts at forward before the sore hammy hindered his speed and agility enough to send him to the bench. The staff noticed he is improving and he should be able to factor into the Red Storm attack come playoff time.

Probable: Senior captain and defender Rory Quinn. He will most likely begin to get the starts again, beginning with Cincy. He’s been used primarily off the bench since he injured his hip in practice three weeks ago. Masur cleared his captain to play and says everything is OK for Quinn health-wise. This is very good news for the team to get one of its leaders back close to 100 percent.

Side note: Why are all these injuries practice related?? Yes, practice makes perfect, you practice what you preach and you produce what you practice. But, if this soccer team took a page out of Allen Iverson’s creed, wouldn’t they be ultra-healthy, like, undefeated healthy? Not a game…not a game…we talkin’ about practice!

Red Storm, Irish First to Qualify for Big East Playoffs, USF Not Far Behind

Posted by Bill San Antonio

With the Big East Men’s soccer playoffs set to start November 5, teams are beginning to qualify for seeding within the conference tournament. St. John’s and Notre Dame, two schools ranked nationally in the NSCAA/Adidas poll at No. 4 and No. 19, respectively, were the first two teams to clinch a berth in the 2008 tournament.

St. John’s (12-1-3, 6-1-1) and Notre Dame (9-2-2, 5-2-2) both lead their respective divisions. Since the Big East issued the Press Release regarding the clinchings, South Florida (6-3-2, 10-3-2, 2nd in Big East Red) has also snagged a playoff spot. The Bulls boast two of the weekly Big East awards, as senior Yohance Marshall won the Best Defensive Player of the Week and freshman Sebastien Thuriere was honored as the conference’s Rookie Player of the Week. Goalkeeper Jeff Attinella was recognized on the Big East’s Honor Roll.

With two games left to play, St. John’s and South Florida remain within one point of each other for the Red Division lead. For seeding purposes, wins for each club are crucial. St. John’s defeated South Florida in their October 18 game. The win propelled St. John’s to the top of the division. St. John’s concludes its home schedule against Cincinnati on October 31 and will travel to Rutgers on November 3 to make up the postponed game originally scheduled for today. South Florida and Cincinnati are scheduled to play tonight in Ohio before the Bulls return to Tampa to host Rutgers on November 1.

Football Roundup-Week 9

Posted by Bill San Antonio

Due to some complications, time got away from us and Matt and I were unable to make our weekly Big East football picks. There was some really exciting action within Big East play this week, as both ranked Big East teams lost to unranked opponents, and we are currently kicking ourselves for missing out on the fun.

Thursday-Auburn 17, West Virginia 34

For those of you who turned this game off when Auburn was up 17-3 in the second quarter, we don’t blame you. But this game could be the best comeback the conference has seen all year. It’s games like this that prove just how valuable Pat White is to the Mountaineers, as he sparked the comeback with a 44-yard touchdown pass to Arlic Arnett with 6:37 left to play in the second quarter-his first of three in the game. Something must be said of the West Virginia defense as well, spotting Auburn 17 and then holding tight for the rest of the game. Auburn lost the battle on third down, converting just nine of 18 third down plays, and the persistence West Virginia showed was both entertaining and inspiring.

Under the Radar

Posted by Andrew Silverman

Last year, they were 33-4 (13-1 Big East).  Last year, they won their first ever Big East Championship.  Last year, they had some of the top players in the conference.

And after last season concluded, they lost three of their top contributing players – the Big East Player of the Year, a member of the first-team All-Big East and a Big East Tournament All-Star.

This year, after losing six of their first 11 matches, the season’s future looked bleak for a young, talented women’s volleyball team.

Then something changed.

No one can say for sure what it was, but there is something different about this team.  They are clicking on all cylinders right now and head coach Joanne Persico-Smith’s team has only lost once since Sept. 19.

That brings us to this past weekend.  A Red Storm team that nobody expected much from at the beginning of this season started this weekend in second place in the Big East.  And they just went into West Virginia and Pittsburgh and swept both teams in their respective homes.

They now come back home in first place and prepare for four games in Carnesecca, all against middle-of-the-pack opponents. They are now 7-1 in the Big East and can easily win three of the next four (and possibly all four) at home if they continue the high standard of play that Persico-Smith has drilled into her players.

This team apparently never got the memo that this year should have been different.

And while we all watch the men’s soccer team dominate, and the women’s soccer team continue to excel on what seems like a daily basis, this team as flown under the radar.  But it wont be for long.

Notes from Big East Basketball Media Day

Posted By Matt Choquette

The soccer season is winding down and well, St. John’s doesn’t have a football team to go bowling with. It’s getting cold, which is generally the time people like to start playing sports indoors. It’s not too early to start talking Big East hoops yet, is it?

Nah!

The “Greatest Basketball Conference in the Country” held its annual media day in “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” Madison Square Garden, on Wednesday morning. We found Connecticut is favored by the Big East coaches to win the conference and Notre Dame forward Luke Harangody is chosen as preseason Player of the Year. Here is an abridged version of what went down at MSG. For the full Big East preview, be patient. It will all be covered in this year’s Courtside Magazine, presented by the Torch. And now I’ve reached my shameless plugs limit for this month.

Chiduku Named Offensive Player of the Week

Posted by Bill San Antonio

St. John’s own Trevor Chiduku was named Big East Offensive Player of the Week for Week 8 of the Men’s soccer season. The sophomore midfielder scored the first goal in the Red Storm’s 3-1 road win at Seton Hall on October 15, then rifled a shot past South Florida goalie Jeff Attinella for the only goal in the 1-0 home win over the Bulls three days later. The win leapfrogged the Red Storm over South Florida into first place in the Big East Red division. 

St. John’s is 6-1-1 in the Big East and boasts the highest winning percentage (.812) in the conference. The Red Storm is ranked No.4 in the latest NSCAA/Adidas national poll.

Chiduku headlines the men’s soccer honors this week, but he isn’t the biggest story out of the conference’s weekly awards. To reiterate a press release made by the Big East website (bigeast.org), four players from four different teams were honored as the conference’s best this week. Chiduku was the Top Offensive player, while Syracuse’s Karol Wasielewski earned Defensive Player of the Week honors. Cincinnati goalkeeper Matt Williams was named the Goalkeeper of the Week, and freshman midfielder Tony Cascio of Uconn was named Rookie Player of the Week.