Nov. 28, 2004

Queens, NY - Propelled by an impressive road win on Saturday night, the St. John's University men's soccer team is one step away from an appearance in the NCAA Final Four. The Red Storm traveled to California and toppled sixth-seeded UCLA, 2-1.

The win puts St. John's, the No. 11 seed, in an NCAA Elite Eight match against third-seeded Maryland on Saturday, December 4. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. at Maryland's Ludwig Field.

The winner of that match will advance to the NCAA Final Four, which will be held at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California on December 10-12.

St. John's, now 12-5-4 overall, and Maryland are not strangers. The teams have met four times in program history, but twice in the last year. The Red Storm eliminated the Terrapins from the 2003 NCAA Tournament with a 1-0 win in the national semifinals. Maryland, 16-5-2 overall, hosted St. John's earlier this season, and posted a 5-2 win.

St. John's reached the Elite Eight for the third time in the last four years (2001, 03) with a 2-1 win over the Bruins on Saturday night in front of 363 fans at Drake Stadium. Senior Andre Schmid scored with five minutes left in the first half, and classmate Ryan Kelly scored on a free kick early in the second half with the decisive goal.

The Red Storm, who earned a first round bye, advanced to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament with a 3-1 win over Boston University on Tuesday at Belson Stadium. The win put St. John's into its ninth-straight Sweet Sixteen, one of only two schools nationwide (Indiana) to accomplish that feat.

Freshman Andrei Gotsmanov leads the Red Storm in scoring, and is tied for second in the BIG EAST, with nine goals and four assists for 22 points. Schmid has five goals and a team-leading eight assists for 18 points, while senior Matt Groenwald, one of 15 finalists for the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy, is third on the team with three goals and six assists for 12 points.

Maryland advanced to the Elite Eight with wins over Hofstra and Creighton, both games at home. The Terrapins beat Hofstra, 4-0, in the second round, and then posted a 5-4 penalty kick win over the Bluejays on Sunday afternoon. Junior Jason Garey leads the team with 21 goals and nine assists for 51 points, while senior Abe Thompson has 11 goals and seven assists for 29 points.