For the first time since 2021, the St. John’s men’s soccer team will be playing postseason ball. The NCAA men’s soccer tournament selection committee named the Red Storm as one of the teams in the bracket’s 48-team field during Monday’s selection show. The Johnnies are slated to face former Big East rival West Virginia in the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
This season’s bid marks the program’s 23rd all-time NCAA Tournament appearance, which has all come under the leadership of head coach David Masur. With Masur at the helm, the Johnnies have twelve Sweet Sixteen appearances, reached four College Cups, and won the school’s only team national championship in 1996.
St. John’s is among five Big East teams to earn a bid in this year’s tournament, joining Akron, UConn, Georgetown, and Seton Hall, matching the conference’s highest total sent to the postseason since the 2013 realignment.
Finishing with a record of 9-5-4 overall record (W-L-D), the Johnnies qualified for the NCAA Tournament despite missing the four-team Big East Tournament, marking only the second time in program history that they have achieved this feat. St. John’s was able to impress the committee with their performance in non-conference and regular-season play, as well as their RPI rank of 42nd. The key results on their resume were a road win over then-No. 19 Akron on October 3, along with two draws against then-top-ten ranked opponents Marshall and Wake Forest.
Leading the Johnnies into the tournament is Brazilian international Guilherme Gomes, who recorded a team-high eight goals and won the Big East Freshman of the Year award. It also wouldn’t be a David Masur team without a stout defense. All-Big East senior defenders Bjorn Nikolajewski and Godwin Partey hold down a backline that ranked in the top-40 nationally in goals against average (.944).
Thursday night’s first-round game will be played at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia, with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
You can view the entire 48-team bracket at the link here.
