Dec. 12, 2003

Columbus, Ohio - Afterward, members of the St. John's men's soccer team said it was inspiring to see one of its captains - senior midfielder Matia Damiani (Foggia, Italy) - on the field. The senior, who suffered a broken arm in the NCAA Third Round, returned to play for the Red Storm on Friday night in the NCAA Semifinals against Maryland and played all 90 minutes.

The inspiration from seeing Damiani play, a goal on a penalty kick, relentless play from the back line and in the midfield and a dominating performance from senior goalkeeper Bill Gaudette (Hummelstown, Pa.) all factored in to the Red Storm's 1-0 win over Maryland at Columbus Crew Stadium.

"We knew we had a stiff challenge in front of us," St. John's Head Coach Dave Masur said. "Maryland is a tough team, with many skilled players who can attack you. We got the goal in the first half, and our guys made it stick, but we've got to be ready for Sunday now."

St. John's, now 17-5-3, advances to play in the NCAA National Championship game on Sunday at 2 p.m. They will play the winner of tonight's second semifinal between Indiana and Santa Clara. The game will be shown live on ESPN2.

Maryland controlled play in the opening minutes of the game, unleashing a flurry of shots, including four on goal. Abe Thompson and Jason Garey each recorded two shots on goal, but Gaudette made a pair of diving stops to keep the game scoreless. The Terrapins defense contained St. John's up front, preventing the Red Storm from moving into the offensive third.

Play began to level out at the midpoint of the first half and the Red Storm capitalized. In the 35th minute, sophomore Sebastian Alvarado-Ralph (Gothenburg, Sweden) won a 50-50 ball and flicked toward the near sideline to senior Simone Salinno (Lucera, Italy). Salinno sent a ball toward the far side of the box, where freshman Ashley Kozicki (Pleasant Valley, Pa.) met it and raced toward goal. As he made his turn toward goal, he was taken down by Terrapins keeper Noah Palmer and a penalty kick was called. Alvarado-Ralph stepped to the line and beat Palmer to the middle on a low shot for his fifth goal of the season on the Red Storm's first shot-on-goal of the game.

The Red Storm had a tremendous chance in the final minute of the first half to take a 2-0 lead when junior Ryan Kelly (Marlton, N.J.) won a ball just past midfield and dribbled ahead with Alvarado-Ralph on his left. Kelly slotted a ball past a Maryland defender and the Swede moved toward goal. As he moved to take his shot, Palmer stepped off his line, closed the distance and was able to deflect the shot high.

In the second half, a staunch St. John's defensive effort guided the team through the first 25 minutes of play. The Terrapins continued to attack the offensive third, but the Red Storm back line held the potent Maryland offense in check. In the 68th minute, a laser from 25 yards out from Ian Rodway was saved by Gaudette. In the 70th minute, Maryland had a free kick from the 30-yard line, and after it bounced around in the box, a shot from Jason Garey went high.

The Terrapins began to make a major push in the final third of the second half and were again able to get shots off. The best opportunity came in the 80th minute, when forward Abe Thompson's header was saved by Gaudette, who read the shot and had half his body in the goal when he made the save at the line. The Terrapins were awarded a corner kick in the 83rd minute, but a foul on Clarence Goodson sent the ball back to the other end.

In the 86th minute, after a throw-in, A.J. Herrera was able to get a blast off from 25 yards out that went just high, giving St. John's a goal kick. The Red Storm moved downfield and were able to manage a corner kick - taken by Salinno - in the 89th minute, but the Terrapins were able to move downfield again. A shot from Thompson with 20 seconds left was saved by a diving Gaudette. The subsequent corner kick was punched away by the keeper, and time ran out on the Terrapins.

Maryland out shot St. John's, 25-9, with the Terrapins taking nine shots on goal and the Red Storm three. St. John's, however, took four corner kicks and limited Maryland, which finishes the season at 20-3-1, to only two all game.

POSTGAME NOTES: · St. John's senior Matia Damiani, who suffered a broken left arm in the NCAA Third Round match against UC-Santa Barbara and missed the NCAA Quarterfinal match against Creighton, started the game for the Red Storm. Damiani was fitted with a hard cast on his arm Thursday morning. · The Red Storm starting lineup was Bill Gaudette at goalkeeper; Tim O'Neill, Jeff Carroll, Chris Wingert and Chris Corcoran in the back; Damiani, Jean Camere and Georgios Spanos in the middle; and Ryan Kelly, Sebastian Alvarado-Ralph and Simone Salinno up front. · St. John's used its 21st different starting lineup this season · Prior to the game, St. John's senior Chris Wingert was named one of three finalists for the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy, awarded to the top player in Division I soccer.