QUEENS, N.Y. (Sept. 11, 2009) – St. John's lacrosse head coach Jason Miller announced the 2010 schedule on Friday as he prepares to lead the Red Storm in the inaugural season of BIG EAST lacrosse. Along with St. John's, the new conference members include Syracuse, Notre Dame, Villanova, Providence, Rutgers, and Georgetown. Georgetown, Notre Dame and Syracuse all finished in the Top 20 of last year's NIKE/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll as the Orange took home its second consecutive national championship.

"It's a great schedule, and I think it will prove to be as competitive or as tough as any in Division I lacrosse," said Miller. "Everybody that knows the sport, or knows the conference, understands the excitement surrounding the first season of Big East Lacrosse, so that is certainly a highlight."

St. John's will host six of its 14 games, including late-season bouts against Notre Dame and Syracuse. The non-conference slate includes three Top 20 matchups, highlighted by a home game against area rival Hofstra University, who finished last year ranked 10th in the USILA Coaches Poll. The Red Storm will also travel to Colorado to take on the U.S. Air Force Academy in late February.

St. John's first takes to the field this fall when it competes in the 12th-annual Lacrosse for Leukemia tournament against Towson and UMBC in Brooklandville, Md., on Oct. 17. The spring season kicks off with road exhibitions against University of Massachusetts on Jan. 30 and Lafayette College on Feb. 13.

The Red Storm opens the regular season at home on Saturday, Feb. 20, when it hosts College of the Holy Cross at 2:30 p.m. St. John's will then hit the road for a full month starting with a game at Air Force on Feb. 27. The Red Storm then plays at conference opponent Georgetown on March 6, heads to Philadelphia, Pa. to play Drexel on March 13, and wraps up against Stony Brook on March 16.

The Red Storm returns home to host the University of Vermont on March 20. St. John's is 9-3 all-time against the Catamounts with an 11-5 victory in their last meeting in 2005.

"By playing Vermont and Sacred Heart, renewing our series with the Air Force Academy, and extending our rivalries with Holy Cross, Drexel and Penn State – I expect every week inside and outside the conference to be a battle. We will need to be ready every time out, I don't think there's much room for anything short of that."

St. John's will then play under the lights of DaSilva Memorial Field in a primetime Tuesday night bout against Hofstra on March 23. This will mark the first meeting between the two schools since April 12, 1995, a 19-3 win by the Pride.

"It's been a goal of assistant coach Dan Paccione and myself to be able to start rivalries with Hofstra and Stony Brook," said Miller. "As all of the lacrosse conferences shifted, and a lot of schedules changed, we were able to work it out so that we would play them both in the same year. My hope is that the bi-product of that will be a lot of local excitement about our schedule and our program."

A road game against Penn State on March 27 marks the last tune up before the Red Storm gets into the heart of its BIG EAST conference schedule. The Red Storm faces a familiar conference foe in Rutgers on April 13. Along with Georgetown and St. John's, Rutgers left the ECAC conference to help form the new BIG EAST conference this season. The Scarlet Knights defeated St. John's 14-10 last season.

St. John's will host two out of the next three conference games, including an April 24 matchup with Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish earned a seven seed in last year's NCAA Tournament but bowed out in the first round to Maryland. Last year marked the first ever meeting between the two teams, but mutual membership in the BIG EAST should spark the beginning of an intense rivalry between the two Catholic schools.

After traveling to Sacred Heart University on May 1, the Red Storm close the season with a home game against defending national champion Syracuse on Saturday May 8 at 1:00 p.m. This will be the first meeting between the state rivals since 1991. Last season, St. John's finished 5-9 and 1-6 in the ECAC.

2009-09-11