Red Storm soccer miss impact left by Tani Oluwaseyi
QUEENS, N.Y. (BVM) — The St. John’s Red Storm men’s soccer team closed the book on their 2021 season after a successful campaign.
After finishing with a final record of 11-6-3, the Red Storm endured a heartbreaker in the Big East Tournament, losing in the first round against the Butler Bulldogs on penalty kicks and falling in the second round against the Oregon State Beavers.
The Red Storm would go on to advance in the NCAA Tournament where they had a successful first round against the Princeton Tigers, beating them with a final score of 1-0.
The team would then have to travel to Corvallis, Oregon where they would face the Oregon State Beavers in the second of the NCAA Tournament. Their season would come to an end against the Beavers with a score of 2-0, ending the Johnnies season.
Although the season wasn’t a bad outing record wise, and the team reached tournament play, there was someone missing at Belson Stadium in Queens.
That someone would have to be Tani Oluwaseyi. Oluwaseyi was forced to miss the season due to season-ending surgery on his left knee this past summer, ending his senior year before it could begin.
The 6-foot-2 senior has had a remarkable tenure at St. John’s, becoming one of the best Division I soccer players in the country.
The Nigerian-born forward has received honors such as the Big East Offensive Player of the Year and a first team All Big East selection in his sophomore campaign in which he scored 11 goals on the season; by far his most impressive campaign.
In his freshman year, Oluwaseyi was selected to the Big East All-Freshman team while scoring five goals on the season helping jump start his impressive run with the program.
In his junior season that was played during the spring of 2021 due to the season being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the forward was selected to the first team All-Big East team and was also named as the Preseason Big East Offensive Player. He would score five goals in nine games for the Red Storm.
In total, Oluwaseyi has a career of 20 goals and 10 assists with the Red Storm in his first three seasons.
When talking to Red Storm Sports about having to miss his senior season, Oluwaseyi was confident that he would come back as an even better player.
“While it’s tough dealing with the fact that I’ll miss my senior season as well as rehabbing my left knee for the next few months, I strongly believe that God has a plan and a purpose for my life and all things happen for a reason,” Oluwaseyi said. “The goal is to come back a better player than I was before, and I’m going to do what I can to achieve that. I’m looking forward to supporting my teammates every step of the way, and I hope we can do something really special this year.”
While the season may be over, Oluwaseyi looks to continue improving himself as he tries to get back to 100 percent.
