St. John’s (17-2-3) meets Indiana (17-3-1) Friday in the semifinals of the Men’s College Cup in Columbus, Ohio. Here’s look at the key players in the Indiana-St. John’s matchup (kickoff: Friday, Dec. 14, 7 pm ET; TV: delayed, Saturday, Dec. 15, 1 pm ET). INDIANA: Noonan leads Hoosiers Junior All-America PAT NOONAN, this year’s runner-up for the Missouri Athletic Club Player of the Year Award, netted both Indiana goals in the win against Clemson, giving him a total of 16 goals on the year. NED GRABAVOY, this year’s top-rated player out of high school, is beginning to have a major impact after overcoming a broken foot suffered in pre-season. The Illinois product, who attracted the interest of several Bundesliga clubs, had two assists in the 3-0 win over Rutgers in the third round. Senior back JOSH RIFE, the Hoosiers sweeper, has been a key factor in Indiana’s 16 shutouts this season. He was the Defensive Player of the Big Ten Tournament. Keeper COLIN ROGERS has allowed only six goals in his 1843 minutes of play. His GAA is 0.29 is on IU’s single-season list behind John Putna’s 0.26 GAA in 1979. Rookie MIKE AMBERSLEY shared Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors with Chad Severs from Penn State. Ambersley ranks second on the IU squad with 14 points on five goals and four assists. Juniors PHIL PRESSER (first goal of season was game-winner against Rutgers in the third round) and JOHN SWANN (five goals in 2001) joined Noonan, Rife and Rogers on the All-Big Ten first team. At 6-foot-3, senior defender RYAN HAMMER has used his frame to contribute offensively: four goals and three assists. ST. JOHN’S: Freshmen come up big Senior JEFF MATTEO, the Big East Midfielder of the Year, is the leading scorer for the Red Storm with eight goals and six assists (22 points). Senior SHALRIE JOSEPH, the Red Storm’s leading scorer last season with 14 goals, moved from forward to sweeper this year as a result of injuries but has moved up front at times late in the season. The Grenada international has scored the game-winning goal in four of the last six games. Other offensive contributions have come from sophomore center back CHRIS WINGERT, the son of former NASL keeper Norm Wingert who has six goals, and classmate ANGEL RODRIGUEZ, who has seven goals. The Johnnies have gotten big contributions out of their four freshman starters: CHRIS CORCORAN and PETER PHILAPAKOS had the goals in the 2-0 win over No. 1 SMU that propelled the Red Storm into the final four. Californian ANDRE SCHMID (red-carded against SMU) and Italian SIMONE SALINNO are the other freshmen starters. Israeli GUY HERTZ, a JC transfer from Mercer County, has played every minute in goal (0.56 GAA).
