St. John's is ranked No. 1 in the latest NCAA RPI.
#BEfútbol Minute – Red Storm Continues To Roll
NEW YORK – St. John’s remains at the top of the BIG EAST men’s soccer standings (5-0-0) with its fifth consecutive shutout victory. This weekend, No. 7 St. John’s defeated Creighton, 2-0, in Omaha amidst a crowd of more than 2,000 Bluejay fans at Morrison Stadium. No. 13 Georgetown also did not allow a goal to score as the Hoyas also remain unbeaten in BIG EAST action at 4-0-1. Georgetown defeated Xavier, 1-0, on Saturday afternoon at Shaw Field. The two BIG EAST leaders will meet on Wednesday in primetime action on the BIG EAST Digital Network presented by SoFi.
All five of the BIG EAST winners on Saturday shut out their fellow league opponents.
Sitting alone in third place with seven points is Butler (2-2-1 BIG EAST). The Bulldogs hung a W on Seton Hall on Saturday, 4-0.
Tied for fourth place with six points are five teams: DePaul, Providence, Creighton, Marquette and Seton Hall. Marquette (2-3-0) defeated Villanova, 1-0 and DePaul (1-1-3) earned its first league win with a 2-0 win over Providence. The Friars, Pirates and Bluejays all post a 2-3-0 record. Rounding out the current standings at the midpoint is Villanova (1-3-1) and Xavier (1-4-0).
BIG EAST men’s soccer continues on Wednesday with all five league games on BEDN.
All 10 Teams In Top 75 of NCAA RPI
As of Monday morning the BIG EAST owns the top two spots in the latest NCAA RPI report released on Oct. 21. St. John’s is No. 1 in the RPI, while Georgetown is No. 2. All 10 teams are in the top 75 of the RPI with six in the top 50. Butler is next at No. 25, DePaul No. 37, Providence No. 44 and Villanova No. 50. Creighton ranks 53rd, Xavier 59th, Marquette 72nd and Seton Hall 75th.
For the Red Storm, the 12-1-0 overall record is the best start by a St. John’s squad since 1993, when SJU won 13 of its 14 first decisions in the midst of a 21-game unbeaten streak to kick off the season. The Red Storm has won each of its first five league matches for the first time since the College Cup campaign of 2003.
Saturday Recaps
BUTLER 4, SETON HALL 0
The Bulldogs ran their unbeaten streak to five matches with a dominating performance Saturday afternoon at Seton Hall. Four different Bulldogs scored in the contest. Keeper Gabriel Gjergji posted his fourth shutout of the season. He made five saves. Butler out-shot Seton Hall, 26-15, which was easily a season-high for the Bulldogs. Nasser had seven shots. Joel Harvey (16th minute), Wilmer Cabrera Jr., (35th), Brandon Guhl (60th) and Hemi Nasser (84th) scored for Butler.
No. 13 GEORGETOWN 1, XAVIER 0
In the 14th minute, Georgetown found the back of the net as a cross was sent in from Ethan Lochner. The ball came out to JB Fischer whose shot was saved by XU keeper Matthew Rosenberg. The rebound fell to the foot of Jacob Montes who confidently sent it back in to make it 1-0 for his sixth on the season. Xavier had chances in the second as GU keeper Giannis Nikopolidis was forced to come up with one big save. Georgetown outshot Xavier 24-7 (12-4 SOG) and held a 9-0 advantage in corner kicks. Nikopolidis had four saves in the win to get the shutout, Rosenberg tallied 10 saves and took the loss as the Musketeer defense was credited with one save. It was Georgetown’s fifth-consecutive shutout.
MARQUETTE 1, VILLANOVA 0
Marquette senior Connor Alba scored the lone goal of the match in the 86th minute, his third goal of the season and 13th of his career. The first half proved to be a back-and-forth affair as the two teams exchanged scoring chances. MU's best chance of the first 45 came in the 32nd minute, with Luka Prpa hitting the crossbar on a free kick from outside the box. The two teams went into halftime tied at zero. In the waning minutes, senior forward Connor Alba found some space in between the 'Nova defense and laced a left-footed shot into the lower left corner of the net. With just four minutes left in the game, the Golden Eagles were able to hold strong defensively to seal the victory. MU goalkeeper Cedrik Stern was able to keep a clean sheet for his team, saving both shots that came on goal. The Golden Eagles outshot the Wildcats 14-11 on the game, including a 6-2 advantage in shots on goal. For the Wildcats, Williams made five saves.
DEPAUL 2, PROVIDENCE 0
DePaul’s Jake Fuderer scored in the 66th minute off a free kick about 15 yards out to take the 1-0 lead and score the game-winning goal. Providence felt the pressure and fired off seven shots, two on goal in an attempt to find the equalizer but the Blue Demons refused to back down. In the 88th minute, Max de Bruijne dribbled the ball down the field before making a quick pass to Youssef Ramadan for the insurance goal. DePaul goalkeeper Drew Nuelle stopped four shots, two per period. Providence’s Austin Aviza made three saves.
No. 7 ST. JOHN’S 2, CREIGHTON 0
St. John’s recorded its fifth consecutive clean sheet and its ninth overall this season. The shutout streak is the program's longest since the BIG EAST Championship season of 2011, when the Johnnies rattled off six straight clean sheets in September. Jan Hoffelner made two saves to register his sixth win of the year while Luka Gavran tallied one save in the second half to preserve the lead. Eight of the team's nine shutouts have been joint efforts by the Red Storm's goalkeeping tandem. Tani Oluwaseyi scored his eighth goal of the season, including his fifth game-winner, in the first half to give the Johnnies an early advantage that they would not relinquish. The sophomore, who leads the BIG EAST in both goals and points, is now the first St. John's player to score eight times in a season since Nelson Becerra accomplished the feat during the College Cup campaign of 2008. Freshman Atila Ashrafi netted his second goal of the campaign in the 74th minute of action, quelling a late Creighton push and sealing the St. John's victory. Creighton keeper Paul Kruse was credited with three saves in goal.
#BEfútbol Results
Saturday, Oct. 19
BUTLER 4, SETON HALL 0
No. 13 GEORGETOWN 1, XAVIER 0
MARQUETTE 1, VILLANOVA 0
DEPAUL 2, PROVIDENCE 0
No. 7 ST. JOHN’S 2, CREIGHTON 0
Upcoming #BEfútbol Schedule
** ALL FIVE GAMES ON BIG EAST DIGITAL NETWORK PRESENTED BY SOFI **
Wednesday, Oct. 23
PROVIDENCE at VILLANOVA, 3 p.m.
SETON HALL at XAVIER, 7 p.m.
No. 13 GEORGETOWN at No. 7 ST. JOHN’S, 7 p.m.
DEPAUL at CREIGHTON, 8 p.m.
BUTLER at MARQUETTE, 8 p.m.
All times listed are Eastern.