St. John's Checks In At No. 18 In Season's Final NSCAA Poll - ST. JOHN'S UNIVERSITY OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

St. John's Checks In At No. 18 In Season's Final NSCAA Poll

Red Storm finished 14-7-2 and won conference-best ninth BIG EAST Tournament.


	St. John's won its ninth BIG EAST Tournament crown and made its 18th NCAA Tournament appearance.

Dec. 19, 2011

QUEENS, N.Y. - The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) has ranked St. John's No. 18 in the final poll of the 2011 season. The ranking marks the 14th time since 1996 that the Red Storm has appeared in the final NSCAA Top 25 poll.

One of five BIG EAST teams to appear in the final poll, St. John's is joined by Connecticut (No. 5), USF (No. 6), Louisville (No. 7) and Rutgers (No. 23).

St. John's (14-7-2) advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the 18th time in program history after securing an automatic bid with a 1-0 overtime win against the then-No. 3 Huskies in the BIG EAST Tournament championship game. The victory also gave the Red Storm its conference-record ninth Tournament crown.

First team NSCAA All-Northeast Region selection and second team All-BIG EAST choice Connor Lade, who started all 23 games and was the only Red Storm player to play every minute of the season, anchored a defense that posted 11 shutouts. The senior captain also earned BIG EAST Tournament Most Outstanding Defensive Player honors and was named to the All-Tournament Team for the second time (2009).

Jack Bennett, the BIG EAST Tournament Most Outstanding Offensive Player, led the offense in points (18), assists (6) and game-winning goals (5), and tied for the team-lead with six goals. Pablo Battuto Punyed (4g, 3a) earned BIG EAST Co-Midfielder of the Year and first team All-BIG EAST honors, while Walter Hines (6g, 1a) earned third team All-BIG EAST accolades and defender Tim Parker (1g, 1a) earned BIG EAST All-Rookie honors.