By Dylan Butler
The Cardinals garnered the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament and were slated take on the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point Wednesday afternoon. It was the first NCAA bid in the program's history.
“I'm ecstatic for my seniors,” said fifth-year head coach Richard Packard. “After the four years they put into this program they deserve this. It takes an entire team to be successful in championships like this and we have great teamwork out there.”
York (8-5-2) took a 1-0 lead when Ozone Park resident Alex Proano scored on a penalty kick in the 28th minute. No. 2 Medgar Evers (9-7-2) roared back and scored two goals in the opening 15 minutes of the second half. Andrew Blyden's header evened the score at 1 in the 53rd minute and seven minutes later Deighton Cyrus received a through ball from Jahdiel Williams and put in into the lower left corner of the net to give the Cougers a 2-1 lead.
But Proano struck again, this time on a free kick in the 70th minute to tie the score at 2.
In the 111th minute, freshman defender Freddy Carmona served a free kick to Chimela Okord, whose header found the back of the net to clinch York's third CUNY title. Okord, a senior defender originally from Nigeria, was named tournament Most Valuable Player.
The Cardinals, seeded fifth in the Metro Region, take on a Merchant Marine Academy squad that defeated St. Joseph-Patchogue 2-1 in overtime to win the Skyline Conference Championship. USMMA (17-2) is the fourth-seeded team in the region.
The winner plays at Rowan (Glassboro, N.J.) Saturday at 6 p.m.
St. John's women rout New York Gazelles in exhibition opener
Junior transfer Rasheedah Brown led the way for the Red Storm, scoring a game-high 22 points as St. John's defeated the New York Gazelles, 71-41, in an exhibition game Sunday at Alumni Hall.
Brown, from Newark, NJ via Independence Community College, hit 7-of-9 from the floor, including four three-pointers and dished out six assists and grabbed six boards in 34 minutes in her Red Storm debut.
Senior guard Latasha Thompson added 14 points and senior Tynisha Myles had seven points and a team-high nine rebounds. Dawn Johnson had nine points and seven rebounds to lead the Gazelles.
St. John's takes on EOS Malbas from Sweden Thursday in their last tune-up before opening the regular season on Nov. 17 against St. Francis (NY) at Alumni Hall.
Kurasaki honored, again
For the second straight week and the fourth time this year, Robyn Kurasaki, a freshman on the St. John's from Milliani, Hawaii, garnered the conference's Rookie of the Week honors.
Kurasaki led the Red Storm to two important Big East wins over the weekend, totaling 50 assists and 13 digs in a four-game win over Villanova and had 51 assists and 10 digs in a five-game victory at Georgetown.
Women's Volleyball
St. John's 15-16-14-15-15, Georgetown 6-18-16-8. Senior Olga Roudovski had a match-high 25 kills and 12 digs to lead the Red Storm over the Hoyas in Washington, D.C. Sunday. St. John's improved to 24-7 and 7-3 in the Big East, placing them in a two-way tie with Pittsburgh for third in the conference standings.
Senior Amanda Berg had 14 kills and eight blocks, while senior Aleeza Miller tallied 10 kills and seven blocks.
St. John's 15-15-9-15, Villanova 8-12-15-9. Roudovski had 23 kills and 11 digs to lead the way for the Storm in a game Saturday.
