http://www.redstormsports.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/082411aaa.html
QUEENS, N.Y. - After reaching the BIG EAST Tournament for the 20th-consecutive season, the longest active stretch in the conference, the St. John's men's soccer team enters the 2011 campaign on a quest to reach the NCAA Tournament for the 18th time in program history.
Head coach Dr. Dave Masur, at the helm for his 21st season, welcomes back 16 letterwinners, including six starters, from a squad that finished third in the Red Division, posted 10 shutouts and compiled 10-6-2 (4-3-2 BIG EAST) record. Picked to finish third in the BIG EAST Preseason Poll and led by senior captains Pablo Battuto Punyed and Connor Lade, the Red Storm welcomes a talented 13-member recruiting class that includes two Gatorade State Players of the Year and a pair of two-time NJCAA National Champions.
Forwards
The Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the 2009 BIG EAST Tournament, senior Walter Hines (3g, 2a) set career-highs in both goals and points (8) a year ago and is the veteran leader of a young group of forwards. The Brooklyn native has tallied three-career game-winners and has increased his goal output in each of his three seasons.
Junior Andres Vargas saw limited playing time in his first season with the Red Storm, but is a speedy finisher out of Caracas, Venezuela and is joined up front by a quintet of freshmen.
The Gatorade Maryland Player of the Year and a second team ESPN RISE All-American as a high school senior, Cody Albrecht holds the Maryland state-record with 31 assists in a single season. An accomplished club player with Sockers FC Chicago, Khaliq McKenzie has a soccer pedigree that includes an older brother that plays in the MLS. A state and region player of the year out of Glendale, Ariz., Corey Christ was also a three-time first team all-region honoree. A freshman from Berlin, Pascal Trappe spent five seasons with the Berlin State Team, while 6-2 Venezuelan freshmen Alejandro Penzini adds height to the front line.
Midfield
A deep midfield is led by Battuto Punyed (5g, 2a) and redshirt senior Ale Ivo. Battuto Punyed, who has started 37-of-38 games in the past two seasons, flourished in his second year as a regular starter, setting career-highs in goals, assists and points (12) in 2010. Ivo, meanwhile, appeared in just six games in 2010 after being sidelined with an injury in 2009, but totaled three goals, all game-winners, and three assists in his first two seasons.
A trio of redshirt sophomores took advantage of learning the system as true freshmen and excelled in their debut seasons on the field. A fixture in the starting lineup, Adrian L'Esperance (1g, 1a) started in 16 games and had one game-winning goal, while Jimmy Mulligan (1g, 2a) appeared in all 18 games with five starts and Nick Matthews saw action in 12 games with one start.
Senior Ido Ligety sat out last season, but was a second team All-American and first team all-conference honoree at Mercer County C.C. in 2009 prior to transferring to St. John's. Daniel Herrera, an NSCAA All-Region honoree as a senior in high school, did not see game action as a freshman, but gained a year of experience in the system
A two-time NJCAA National Champion at Tyler J.C., Jack Bennett earned NJCAA All-Region honors and tallied 14 goals and 16 assists in two seasons with the Apaches, while Juan Andres Aguiar Dorante played for Caracas FC and comes to Queens as a transfer from Universidad Catolica Andres Bello in Venezuela.
Freshmen John Egan, a three-time all-league selection, and Josh Godec, who helped his school team win a league title and club team win a Virginia State Cup, round out the midfield.
Defense
The always strong and technically sound St. John's back line, which posted 10 shutouts and yielded just a 0.86 goals against average a year ago, is led by Lade and redshirt junior Bjorn de Hoop.
A second team NSCAA All-Region choice and a third team All-BIG EAST selection a year ago, Lade (0g, 1a) started all 18 games and led the team in minutes played as the only player to play all 1,668 minutes. Lade has started in all but one game (63-of-64) in his three seasons with the Red Storm.
After securing a starting role to open the 2010 season, de Hoop played in just one game before being sidelined by an injury. Healthy entering the 2011 campaign, the strong-footed defender is expected to return to form at one of the center back positions.
Senior Chris Lebo appeared in 11 games in 2010, his first season with St. John's after two seasons and a 2008 College Cup appearance with North Carolina. Sophomore Jamie Thomas played in all 18 games as a rookie and led all true freshmen with 14 starts, while classmate Jordan Rouse (0g, 2a) saw action in six games and started one contest a season ago.
A highly-touted and physical freshman with an accomplished high school career at nearby Hicksville, Tim Parker was the Gatorade New York Boys Soccer Player of the Year and earned both NSCAA and ESPN RISE All-America honors as a senior and will add both size and skill to the back line.
A two-time NJCAA National Champion at Tyler J.C., Martin Seiler earned NJCAA All-Region honors and is another physical back, while freshman Taylor Cole helped his high school squad to a fourth place finish in the state championship.
Goalkeepers
The goalkeeping corps, another perennial strength of the program, is led by redshirt sophomore and BIG EAST All-Rookie selection Rafael Diaz. A second team Soccer America All-Freshman honoree, Diaz started all 18 games in his rookie campaign and posted a 0.84 goals against average and eight shutouts, including a stretch of six-straight clean sheets to conclude the regular season.
Redshirt sophomore Alex Naples and freshman Jordan Stagmiller round out the trio of keepers. Naples posted a 1.73 goals against average in three appearances a season ago, while Stagmiller earned first team All-Arizona, first team All-State 5A and Desert Valley Region Player of the Year honors as senior in high school.
Schedule
The 18-game schedule should prove to be one of the toughest in the country with nine games against teams that participated in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, including six of the 16 national seeds and five teams that reached at least the NCAA Round of 16.
Among the six national seeds are 2010 NCAA Finalists Louisville (No. 1 seed), NCAA quarterfinalists Maryland (No. 2), Notre Dame (No. 9), Connecticut (No. 11), NCAA quarterfinalists William & Mary (No. 12) and Indiana (No. 14).
St. John's opens the season on Aug. 26 against the Terrapins in the first meeting between the two programs since the 2008 NCAA College Cup. The neutral-site game will be played at the Maryland SoccerPlex.
The Red Storm continues its season-opening three-game road swing with a Sept. 1 contest at William & Mary before heading to Boston, Mass., for a Sept. 3 matchup against Boston University.
St. John's returns to Queens and opens a season-long four-game homestand at Belson Stadium with a Sept. 9 game against Harvard before a Sept. 11 contest with Yale. Following a Sept. 16 showdown with Indiana, the Red Storm concludes the homestand against local squad Iona on Sept. 18.
After opening the BIG EAST schedule on the road with a Sept. 24 game against Connecticut, St. John's returns to non-conference action with a Sept. 28 contest at Princeton.
The Red Storm returns to action at Belson on Oct. 1, hosting Notre Dame for the first time since the 2005 season. St. John's then welcomes Brown on Oct. 4 in its final non-conference game of the regular season.
St. John's opens a string of seven-straight BIG EAST games by heading south for an Oct. 8 contest at USF before traveling back to New York for an Oct. 12 game at Syracuse.
Following an Oct. 15 showdown against Louisville at Belson, the Red Storm travels to Villanova for an Oct. 19 contest.
After hosting DePaul on Oct. 22, St. John's welcomes local rival Rutgers for an Oct. 26 Senior Night matchup.
St. John's concludes the regular season at Cincinnati on Oct. 29.
The BIG EAST Tournament First Round (Nov. 2) and Quarterfinals (Nov. 5) will be held at campus sites before the Semifinals (Nov. 11) and Finals (Nov. 13) will be played at Red Bull Arena in Harrison N.J., for the second-straight season.
QUEENS, N.Y. - After reaching the BIG EAST Tournament for the 20th-consecutive season, the longest active stretch in the conference, the St. John's men's soccer team enters the 2011 campaign on a quest to reach the NCAA Tournament for the 18th time in program history.
Head coach Dr. Dave Masur, at the helm for his 21st season, welcomes back 16 letterwinners, including six starters, from a squad that finished third in the Red Division, posted 10 shutouts and compiled 10-6-2 (4-3-2 BIG EAST) record. Picked to finish third in the BIG EAST Preseason Poll and led by senior captains Pablo Battuto Punyed and Connor Lade, the Red Storm welcomes a talented 13-member recruiting class that includes two Gatorade State Players of the Year and a pair of two-time NJCAA National Champions.
Forwards
The Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the 2009 BIG EAST Tournament, senior Walter Hines (3g, 2a) set career-highs in both goals and points (8) a year ago and is the veteran leader of a young group of forwards. The Brooklyn native has tallied three-career game-winners and has increased his goal output in each of his three seasons.
Junior Andres Vargas saw limited playing time in his first season with the Red Storm, but is a speedy finisher out of Caracas, Venezuela and is joined up front by a quintet of freshmen.
The Gatorade Maryland Player of the Year and a second team ESPN RISE All-American as a high school senior, Cody Albrecht holds the Maryland state-record with 31 assists in a single season. An accomplished club player with Sockers FC Chicago, Khaliq McKenzie has a soccer pedigree that includes an older brother that plays in the MLS. A state and region player of the year out of Glendale, Ariz., Corey Christ was also a three-time first team all-region honoree. A freshman from Berlin, Pascal Trappe spent five seasons with the Berlin State Team, while 6-2 Venezuelan freshmen Alejandro Penzini adds height to the front line.
Midfield
A deep midfield is led by Battuto Punyed (5g, 2a) and redshirt senior Ale Ivo. Battuto Punyed, who has started 37-of-38 games in the past two seasons, flourished in his second year as a regular starter, setting career-highs in goals, assists and points (12) in 2010. Ivo, meanwhile, appeared in just six games in 2010 after being sidelined with an injury in 2009, but totaled three goals, all game-winners, and three assists in his first two seasons.
A trio of redshirt sophomores took advantage of learning the system as true freshmen and excelled in their debut seasons on the field. A fixture in the starting lineup, Adrian L'Esperance (1g, 1a) started in 16 games and had one game-winning goal, while Jimmy Mulligan (1g, 2a) appeared in all 18 games with five starts and Nick Matthews saw action in 12 games with one start.
Senior Ido Ligety sat out last season, but was a second team All-American and first team all-conference honoree at Mercer County C.C. in 2009 prior to transferring to St. John's. Daniel Herrera, an NSCAA All-Region honoree as a senior in high school, did not see game action as a freshman, but gained a year of experience in the system
A two-time NJCAA National Champion at Tyler J.C., Jack Bennett earned NJCAA All-Region honors and tallied 14 goals and 16 assists in two seasons with the Apaches, while Juan Andres Aguiar Dorante played for Caracas FC and comes to Queens as a transfer from Universidad Catolica Andres Bello in Venezuela.
Freshmen John Egan, a three-time all-league selection, and Josh Godec, who helped his school team win a league title and club team win a Virginia State Cup, round out the midfield.
Defense
The always strong and technically sound St. John's back line, which posted 10 shutouts and yielded just a 0.86 goals against average a year ago, is led by Lade and redshirt junior Bjorn de Hoop.
A second team NSCAA All-Region choice and a third team All-BIG EAST selection a year ago, Lade (0g, 1a) started all 18 games and led the team in minutes played as the only player to play all 1,668 minutes. Lade has started in all but one game (63-of-64) in his three seasons with the Red Storm.
After securing a starting role to open the 2010 season, de Hoop played in just one game before being sidelined by an injury. Healthy entering the 2011 campaign, the strong-footed defender is expected to return to form at one of the center back positions.
Senior Chris Lebo appeared in 11 games in 2010, his first season with St. John's after two seasons and a 2008 College Cup appearance with North Carolina. Sophomore Jamie Thomas played in all 18 games as a rookie and led all true freshmen with 14 starts, while classmate Jordan Rouse (0g, 2a) saw action in six games and started one contest a season ago.
A highly-touted and physical freshman with an accomplished high school career at nearby Hicksville, Tim Parker was the Gatorade New York Boys Soccer Player of the Year and earned both NSCAA and ESPN RISE All-America honors as a senior and will add both size and skill to the back line.
A two-time NJCAA National Champion at Tyler J.C., Martin Seiler earned NJCAA All-Region honors and is another physical back, while freshman Taylor Cole helped his high school squad to a fourth place finish in the state championship.
Goalkeepers
The goalkeeping corps, another perennial strength of the program, is led by redshirt sophomore and BIG EAST All-Rookie selection Rafael Diaz. A second team Soccer America All-Freshman honoree, Diaz started all 18 games in his rookie campaign and posted a 0.84 goals against average and eight shutouts, including a stretch of six-straight clean sheets to conclude the regular season.
Redshirt sophomore Alex Naples and freshman Jordan Stagmiller round out the trio of keepers. Naples posted a 1.73 goals against average in three appearances a season ago, while Stagmiller earned first team All-Arizona, first team All-State 5A and Desert Valley Region Player of the Year honors as senior in high school.
Schedule
The 18-game schedule should prove to be one of the toughest in the country with nine games against teams that participated in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, including six of the 16 national seeds and five teams that reached at least the NCAA Round of 16.
Among the six national seeds are 2010 NCAA Finalists Louisville (No. 1 seed), NCAA quarterfinalists Maryland (No. 2), Notre Dame (No. 9), Connecticut (No. 11), NCAA quarterfinalists William & Mary (No. 12) and Indiana (No. 14).
St. John's opens the season on Aug. 26 against the Terrapins in the first meeting between the two programs since the 2008 NCAA College Cup. The neutral-site game will be played at the Maryland SoccerPlex.
The Red Storm continues its season-opening three-game road swing with a Sept. 1 contest at William & Mary before heading to Boston, Mass., for a Sept. 3 matchup against Boston University.
St. John's returns to Queens and opens a season-long four-game homestand at Belson Stadium with a Sept. 9 game against Harvard before a Sept. 11 contest with Yale. Following a Sept. 16 showdown with Indiana, the Red Storm concludes the homestand against local squad Iona on Sept. 18.
After opening the BIG EAST schedule on the road with a Sept. 24 game against Connecticut, St. John's returns to non-conference action with a Sept. 28 contest at Princeton.
The Red Storm returns to action at Belson on Oct. 1, hosting Notre Dame for the first time since the 2005 season. St. John's then welcomes Brown on Oct. 4 in its final non-conference game of the regular season.
St. John's opens a string of seven-straight BIG EAST games by heading south for an Oct. 8 contest at USF before traveling back to New York for an Oct. 12 game at Syracuse.
Following an Oct. 15 showdown against Louisville at Belson, the Red Storm travels to Villanova for an Oct. 19 contest.
After hosting DePaul on Oct. 22, St. John's welcomes local rival Rutgers for an Oct. 26 Senior Night matchup.
St. John's concludes the regular season at Cincinnati on Oct. 29.
The BIG EAST Tournament First Round (Nov. 2) and Quarterfinals (Nov. 5) will be held at campus sites before the Semifinals (Nov. 11) and Finals (Nov. 13) will be played at Red Bull Arena in Harrison N.J., for the second-straight season.