Parker Named BIG EAST Defensive Player Of The Week; Diaz Selected To Weekly Honor Roll

Duo helped Red Storm blank Syracuse and secure No. 3 seed in BIG EAST Tournament.

Web release: http://www.redstormsports.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/102912aab.html

 QUEENS, N.Y. (Oct. 29, 2012) – After helping St. John’s secure an appearance in the BIG EAST Tournament for the 22nd-consecutive season, the longest active streak in the conference, with a 1-0 win against Syracuse, Tim Parker earned Defensive Player of the Week honors and Rafael Diaz was named to the Weekly Honor Roll.  Parker finishes the regular season with three weekly conference honors, including a pair of Defensive Player of Week awards and one Weekly Honor Roll mention.  Diaz, meanwhile, finishes with four honors, including one Goalkeeper of Week and three Weekly Honor Roll selections.

 The duo helped anchor the defensive efforts as St. John’s blanked a Syracuse squad that had been shut out just once all season and was averaging 2.00 goals per game.  Parker and the back line surrendered just seven shots, four on goal, while Diaz made four saves to tie a career-high with his eighth shutout of the season.

Diaz finished the regular season ranked fourth in goals against average (0.67), tied for fourth with eight shutouts, second-most in the league, and sixth in save percentage (.815).

St. John’s (10-3-4, 4-3-1), winners of a conference-record nine BIG EAST Tournament titles, earned a No. 3 seed and a First Round bye, and will open defense of its 2011 crown on the road at Georgetown (15-2-1, 6-2-0) at 1 p.m. on Saturday Nov. 3.

The newly-formatted 10-team BIG EAST Tournament field features the top five teams from each of the two divisions.  The Semifinals and Finals will be held in Harrison, N.J., at Red Bull Arena, home of the New York Red Bulls, for the third-straight season.

-- Red Storm --