The St. John’s men’s Soccer team narrowly beat the No. 6 Seton Hall University Pirates 2-0 on Nov. 9, officially punching their ticket to the semifinal round of the Big East Tournament.

Last year, the Johnnies’ season was heartbreakingly ended in a 2-1 overtime loss to the University of Connecticut in the first round. This time around, Coach David Masur and his team have put themselves in a position to succeed. 

In the final month of the regular season, the Red Storm finished strong with a 5-2-2 record (ending 8-5-5 overall this season),  clinching the No. 3 seed in the Big East. 

They carried this late-season momentum into the matchup against Seton Hall, playing strong on both sides of the field for the first 20 minutes of the game. 

After senior defender Thomas Lamaille’s blocked flying header nearly gave the Johnnies an early lead, the team’s assist leader Miguel Diaz broke through Seton Hall’s defense on the next possession for a one-on-one chance. 

Diaz’s shot was rejected, but the crafty forward rebounded his own miss and passed behind him to junior midfielder Julian Jakopovic who delivered a strike into the bottom right corner of the net. St. John’s secured a 1-0 lead in the 25th minute.

For the rest of the first half, both teams traded possessions resulting in missed shots or defensive stops. After this initial goal, the referees became a large factor in the game — slowing the pace to a crawl thanks to excessive foul calls.

Partially due to some colorful acting by Seton Hall players and many suspicious calls altogether, 17 fouls were dished out in this first half which killed many chances for both sides. 

St. John’s held on to this fragile 1-0 advantage going into halftime while leading all major statistics. The Pirates were outshot 6-1 by the Red Storm, with Jakopovic’s sole goal being the only on-target shot for each side. The Johnnies held a lead in fouls, having 10 against Seton Hall’s seven. 

Despite supremacy in the box score for St. John’s, possession was even for the entire second half. 

The Johnnies and Pirates continued this tale of missed chances for most of the half, begun by an emphatic near miss by Diaz off of the crossbar in the opening minutes. The questionable officiating continued as well, with three yellow cards being given out in the first 20 minutes of the half. 

In the 83rd minute, Lamaille scored his first goal of the season on a push led by fifth-year forward Nigel Griffith that ultimately won the game for St. John’s with a final score of 2-0. 

After the final whistle, an explosion of euphoria and relief came from the Red Storm bench as they avoided the disappointment felt last year and earned their way into the next round. They maintained their leads in shots at 11 to Seton Hall’s eight and shots on goal with four to the Pirates’ two. Eight more fouls were called in the second half — bringing the Johnnies 14 on the night compared to the Pirates’ 11.

St. John’s next challenge will be on Nov. 4 in Maryland against No. 2 Providence College in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament. 

To access the final box score from the match, click here.