St. John’s soccer reaches highest rank, with top 10 matchup Wednesday

St. John’s men’s soccer has upped their record to 12-1 with a win over conference opponent Creighton last week. The 2-0 win also brought the team’s conference record to 5-0, just a half game above 2^nd place Georgetown.

Last week also saw St. John’s to move up to 4^th in the United Soccer Coaches D1 rankings and up to the 1^st spot for the NCAA’s RPI rankings.

With sophomore midfielder Brandon Knapp earning a spot on the Big East’s Honor Roll, along with a spot in Top Drawer Soccer’s top-100, the Red Storm hope to finish their last four games at the top of the Big East table.

But this week brings on the biggest task of the season for St. John’s. Georgetown comes to Queens on Wednesday for a match that kicks off at 7pm. The Hoyas are ranked in the 7^th spot, 3 behind the Johnnies, and are also second in RPI, vying for the Johnnies’ top spot.

The match will be streamed live on YouTube and through the Big East Digital Network.

Looking at last week’s game...

St. John’s 2, Creighton 0

The Johnnies were able to defeat Creighton in another strong defensive match.

Tani Oluwaseyi opened the scoring with his eighth goal of the season in the 26^th minute. Midfielder Atila Ashrafi scored his second of the season in the 74^th minute to bring the score to the final 2-0.

Oluwaseyi’s goal pushed him into the stand alone lead for goals in the Big East; he also ranks 25^th in the nation.

Creighton’s first half produced eight fouls and only two shots on target in the first half. The second half allowed the Bluejays to come out with more energy as they got three shots off early in the half and benefitted from six St. John’s fouls throughout the half.

After the week’s results, midfielder Brandon Duarte played as the Defensive Player of the Week for the Big East Conference and fellow Midfielder Tani Oluwaseyi was also marked on the Weekly Honor Roll.