Fordham–St. John's rivalry

Fordham–St. John's rivalry

Fordham Rams St. John's Red Storm
Sport	Multi-sport
First meeting	1909; 115 years ago (1909) (men's basketball) St. John's 21, Fordham 13
Latest meeting	2024 (men's basketball) St. John's 92, Fordham 60

5km
3miles

St. John's

Fordham

  

Locations of Fordham and St. John's

The Fordham–St. John's rivalry is an inter-conference rivalry between the Fordham Rams and the St. John's Red Storm who are both located in New York City: Fordham playing in The Bronx and St. John's playing in Queens. Conference-wise, the Rams play in the Atlantic 10 Conference (Patriot League for football), while the Red Storm play in the Big East Conference.

The rivalry is most prevalent in men's basketball, where the sides have met 91 times over the last century. The Red Storm have been dominant over that time, boasting a 72–19 record over the Rams. Included, a 23-game winning streak which lasted from 1972 through 1991, although Fordham has managed a few upsets since.^[1] St. John's also dominates Fordham in women's basketball, boasting a 19–5 record overall although Fordham has split the last 6 contests. In other sports, the two teams generally meet less frequently, but there's still a buzz amongst students for such showdowns. Fordham had an advantage over St. John's in football, winning nearly two-thirds (9–6 record) of the head-to-head matches although the bulk of those affairs came with little pageantry as most came when the two schools were fielding D-III teams. The teams haven't played since 1988 and the series will remain dormant since St. John's disbanded its football team in 2002, thus allowing St. John's to spend more resources on basketball while Fordham continues to support a D-1 football program. Fordham's football rivalry is now with its Jesuit sister schools Georgetown and College of the Holy Cross, all three playing in the Patriot League. The Bleacher Report states the major rival to St. John's in the Big East is Seton Hall.

To a certain extent a contention between the schools goes beyond sports. As the two largest Catholic universities in the region, containing the two largest green campuses in New York City, the institutions can be considered similar in look.

The friendly friction is said to have started in the 19th century when both schools were known as St. John's College. Fordham was founded as the third oldest university in New York City by coadjutor bishop (later archbishop) of the Diocese of New York, John Hughes and named after Saint John the Baptist in 1841 as a seminary that was run by the Vincentians. When Hughes wished to expand and open a men's college, the Vincentians did not wish to pursue that avenue for the Provincial who saw having the seminarians teaching in the college as a distraction to the young men studying for the priesthood. Wishing to staff the seminary and a college, Hughes removed the Vincentians priest and invited the Jesuits to open the men's college. The school, located in the Fordham section of The Bronx was deeded over to the Jesuits in 1847. In 1868, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, Brooklyn Bishop John Loughlin invited the Vincentian Fathers to found a separate seminary for the young Brooklyn Diocese as well as St. John's College, both named after Saint John the Baptist. The Vincentians accepted. In 1907 the Jesuit school was charted to be a university and the St. John's College name was dropped to use the town where it was located in the name, a practice common to Jesuit schools. Thus the Vincentian school (chartered as a full university in 1933) became the area's only "St. John's." The university moved to the Hillcrest section of Queens in 1956. Although the university is run by the Vincentians, a Dominican priest, Brian Shanley became the President in 2021. Fordham, although run by the Jesuits since 1841, now has a lay president Tania Tetlow starting in 2022.

History

A basketball game between Fordham and St. John's in 2011.

Up until the CCNY point-shaving scandal, New York City was home to seven (St. John's, NYU, LIU, CCNY, Columbia, Fordham, Manhattan) major basketball programs. That transgression, referred to as "The City Dump Scandal" as well as an even bigger disgrace a decade later, simply known as the 1961 point-shaving scandal, greatly diminished New York City's standing as the epicenter of college hoops. Added to that, NYU's financial woes which had it scrap its basketball program after the 1971 season.

By the early 1980s only St. John's remained on the national stage as each of the other six schools had already transitioned to smaller D-I status or were relegated into the D-III ranks. Fordham, having qualified into 8 NIT and 1 NCAA tournament during the 1980s and early '90s, was the strongest of the six and the only to meet St. John's regularly throughout the 20th century. In fact the Rams met the Red Storm into the early 2000s until a brief hiatus following the 2003 season.^[2] The series resumed in 2009 and became heated when in 2013, St. John's sophomore, Chris Obekpa, made headlines for remarks on Fordham. He described Fordham is a place for New York City basketball players to go that are not accepted by St. John's.^[3] Obekpa said he played with several of the Fordham players in high school and that "they are mad that they are not here. Playing us is their opportunity to prove a point".^[3][4] The next day, St. John's would go on to defeat Fordham 104–58, making it the most lopsided result in the series history.^[5] Fordham draws some solace in that it has always ranked higher academically (in 2022 U.S. News & World Report ranked Fordham at 66th, St.John's at 172nd) and its football team won more games; continuing its football program while St. John's discontinued theirs. As such the rivalry is centered on basketball.

St. John's won in another blowout the following year but when Fordham turned the tables in 2015, drama spewed between the two men's basketball coaches.^[6][7] St. John's reaffirmed its position as top team with a 28-point win in 2016.^[8] The sides haven't met on the court since but the rivalry continues in smaller non-revenue sports, particularly softball where the schools have consistently battled since the 2009 season.

College comparison

Category	Fordham	St. John's
Type	Private	Private
Affiliation	Catholic (Jesuit)	Catholic (Vincentian)
Location	The Bronx	Queens
Students	15,582	21,087
Endowment	$1.1 Billion (2021)	$719.7 million (2020)
School Colors	Maroon & White	Red, White, & Blue
Nickname	Rams	Red Storm
Basketball Arena	Rose Hill Gymnasium	Carnesecca Arena
Baseball Diamond	Houlihan Park	Jack Kaiser Stadium
Soccer Field	Jack Coffey Field	Belson Stadium
Softball Field	Bahoshy Field	Red Storm Field

All-time results

Summary

Sport	All-time series record[9]	Last result	Next meeting
Baseball	St. John's leads 54–24	Fordham won 7–6 on March 21, 2021	TBD
Men's Basketball	St. John's leads 71–19	St. John's won 92–60 on November 4, 2024	TBD
Women's Basketball	St. John's leads 19–6	Fordham won 67–64 (OT) on December 12, 2017	TBD
Football	Fordham leads 9–6–1	Fordham won 46–15 on October 30, 1988	—
Men's Soccer	St. John's leads 9–8–1	St. John's won 1–0 on September 6, 2021	TBD
Women's Soccer	St. John's leads 9–2–4	St. John's won 5–0 on August 25, 2013	TBD
Softball	St. John's leads 15–11	Fordham won 8–4 on March 24, 2021	TBD

Series led and games won by Fordham are shaded ██ maroon. Series led and games won by St. John's shaded ██ red.

Baseball

Fordham victories

St. John's victories

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 1937 New York Fordham 5–2 2 1939 New York St. John's 6–3 3 1940 New York Fordham 9–6 4 1941 New York St. John's 4–1 5 1941 New York St. John's 5–1 6 1942 New York Fordham 7–5 7 1942 New York Fordham 4–2 8 1943 New York St. John's 3–0 9 1943 New York St. John's 8–3 10 1946 New York Fordham 2–1 11 1946 New York St. John's 4–3 12 1947 New York Fordham 4–3 13 1947 New York St. John's 11–4 14 1948 New York Fordham 4–2 15 1948 New York St. John's 10–6 16 1949 New York St. John's 10–9 17 1949 New York St. John's 2–1 18 1950 New York Fordham 8–5 19 1951 New York Fordham 2–1 20 1952 New York Fordham 4–1 21 1953 New York Fordham 6–3 22 1955 New York Fordham 4–0 23 May 14, 1956 Queens, NY St. John's 3–2 24 May 2, 1957 The Bronx, NY St. John's 3–2 25 April 15, 1958 The Bronx, NY Fordham 7–5 26 May 19, 1959 The Bronx, NY Fordham 7–4 27 April 12, 1960 The Bronx, NY St. John's 4–3 28 May 7, 1960 Queens, NY St. John's 6–5 29 April 8, 1961 Queens, NY St. John's 11–2 30 May 5, 1961 The Bronx, NY St. John's 9–6 31 April 28, 1962 Queens, NY St. John's 3–2 32 April 28, 1962 Queens, NY St. John's 5–2 33 May 4, 1963 The Bronx, NY St. John's 6–5 34 May 4, 1963 The Bronx, NY St. John's 5–3 35 May 1964 Queens, NY St. John's 2–1 36 May 11, 1964 The Bronx, NY St. John's 10–7 37 April 14, 1965 The Bronx, NY Fordham 6–5 38 April 21, 1966 Queens, NY St. John's 2–0 39 April 4, 1967 The Bronx, NY W St. John's 11–5 40 April 10, 1968 Queens, NY St. John's 1–0 No. Date Location Winner Score 41 May 3, 1969 The Bronx, NY St. John's 4–2 42 April 6, 1970 Queens, NY St. John's 8–1 43 April 8, 1971 The Bronx, NY St. John's 10–8 44 May 7, 1972 Queens, NY St. John's 5–0 45 May 7, 1972 Queens, NY St. John's 2–1 46 May 13, 1973 The Bronx, NY Fordham 7–4 47 April 9, 1975 The Bronx, NY St. John's 6–4 48 April 7, 1976 Queens, NY St. John's 5–1 49 May 12, 1977 The Bronx, NY St. John's 6–5 50 May 4, 1978 Queens, NY Fordham 3–1 51 April 6, 1979 Queens, NY Fordham 5–4 52 April 2, 1980 The Bronx, NY St. John's 15–3 53 April 2, 1981 Queens, NY St. John's 16–7 54 May 7, 1981 The Bronx, NY St. John's 12–2 55 April 2, 1982 The Bronx, NY St. John's 13–7 56 April 29, 1982 The Bronx, NY Fordham 9–1 57 April 28, 1983 The Bronx, NY Fordham 13–12 58 March 29, 1983 Queens, NY St. John's 4–2 59 April 2, 1984 Queens, NY St. John's 4–2 60 April 26, 1984 Queens, NY St. John's 16–6 61 April 10, 1985 Queens, NY St. John's 3–2 62 April 25, 1985 The Bronx, NY St. John's 13–6 63 April 24, 1986 Queens, NY St. John's 14–7 64 April 30, 1987 The Bronx, NY St. John's 11–6 65 April 27, 1989 The Bronx, NY St. John's 7–1 66 April 26, 1990 Queens, NY St. John's 5–4 67 March 19, 1997 The Bronx, NY Fordham 12–10 68 March 10, 1998 Queens, NY Fordham 10–6 69 May 6, 1999 The Bronx, NY St. John's 7–1 70 April 13, 2000 Queens, NY St. John's 11–0 71 April 19, 2001 Queens, NY St. John's 12–8 72 April 18, 2002 The Bronx, NY St. John's 12–7 73 April 22, 2009 The Bronx, NY St. John's 8–1 74 April 21, 2010 Queens, NY St. John's 12–5 75 March 19, 2021 Queens, NY St. John's 4–1 76 March 20, 2021 The Bronx, NY Fordham 7–6 77 March 20, 2021 The Bronx, NY St. John's 4–3 78 March 21, 2021 Queens, NY Fordham 7–6 Series: St. John's leads 54–24

Source:^[10]

Basketball

Men's basketball

Fordham victories

St. John's victories

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 January 30, 1909 Queens, NY St. John's 21–13 2 January 11, 1912 Queens, NY St. John's 48–19 3 January 29, 1913 Queens, NY St. John's 38–30 4 January 16, 1920 Queens, NY Fordham 51–34 5 January 24, 1920 The Bronx, NY Fordham 34–30 6 January 17, 1921 Queens, NY St. John's 42–33 7 January 12, 1922 Queens, NY St. John's 32–31 8 January 28, 1922 The Bronx, NY St. John's 27–18 9 January 17, 1923 The Bronx, NY St. John's 40–21 10 January 30, 1926 The Bronx, NY Fordham 28–16 11 January 29, 1927 The Bronx, NY Fordham 33–20 12 January 6, 1928 The Bronx, NY Fordham 32–20 13 February 20, 1929 The Bronx, NY Fordham 24–21 14 February 22, 1933 Manhattan, NY St. John's 35–20 15 January 12, 1938 The Bronx, NY St. John's 46–33 16 January 18, 1939 The Bronx, NY St. John's 42–31 17 January 17, 1940 The Bronx, NY Fordham 23–22 18 January 18, 1941 The Bronx, NY St. John's 51–46 19 January 14, 1942 Manhattan, NY St. John's 54–44 20 January 13, 1943 Manhattan, NY St. John's 63–47 21 March 17, 1943 Manhattan, NY St. John's 69–43 22 January 31, 1945 Queens, NY St. John's 71–35 23 February 16, 1946 The Bronx, NY St. John's 49–29 24 February 12, 1947 Queens, NY St. John's 60–36 25 February 12, 1948 Manhattan, NY Fordham 51–44 26 February 18, 1949 Manhattan, NY St. John's 67–48 27 February 17, 1950 Manhattan, NY Fordham 70–64 28 February 28, 1951 Manhattan, NY St. John's 73–63 29 January 30, 1952 Manhattan, NY St. John's 69–56 30 January 29, 1953 Manhattan, NY St. John's 62–56 31 February 8, 1955 The Bronx, NY St. John's 64–56 32 December 28, 1955 Manhattan, NY St. John's 97–85 33 February 25, 1956 Manhattan, NY Fordham 82–59 34 December 29, 1956 Manhattan, NY St. John's 75–72 35 February 23, 1957 The Bronx, NY Fordham 83–77 36 February 22, 1958 Manhattan, NY St. John's 82–74 37 February 14, 1959 The Bronx, NY Fordham 79–77 38 February 13, 1960 Manhattan, NY St. John's 83–64 39 February 25, 1961 The Bronx, NY St. John's 80–66 40 February 24, 1962 Queens, NY St. John's 76–60 41 February 23, 1963 The Bronx, NY Fordham 57–42 42 February 22, 1964 Queens, NY St. John's 59–46 43 February 20, 1965 The Bronx, NY Fordham 60–46 44 February 19, 1966 Queens, NY St. John's 74–72 45 February 18, 1967 The Bronx, NY St. John's 54–52 46 February 17, 1968 Queens, NY St. John's 75–71 No. Date Location Winner Score 47 February 15, 1969 Manhattan, NY St. John's 51–46 48 February 14, 1970 Queens, NY St. John's 80–53 49 February 13, 1971 Manhattan, NY #20 Fordham 76–72 50 February 12, 1972 Queens, NY St. John's 78–60 51 February 10, 1973 Manhattan, NY St. John's 98–73 52 February 9, 1974 Manhattan, NY St. John's 65–59 53 February 8, 1975 Manhattan, NY St. John's 56–46 54 February 7, 1976 Manhattan, NY St. John's 77–67 55 February 12, 1977 The Bronx, NY St. John's 83–63 56 January 11, 1978 Queens, NY St. John's 97–56 57 February 10, 1979 The Bronx, NY St. John's 66–48 58 February 9, 1980 Queens, NY St. John's 78–60 59 January 31, 1981 The Bronx, NY St. John's 80–69 60 November 28, 1981 Jamaica, NY St. John's 91–71 61 December 19, 1981 Queens, NY St. John's 72–59 62 December 15, 1982 The Bronx, NY St. John's 74–66 63 December 27, 1983 Manhattan, NY St. John's 56–52 64 December 5, 1984 Queens, NY St. John's 47–46 65 January 22, 1986 Manhattan, NY St. John's 56–47 66 December 2, 1986 Queens, NY St. John's 80–61 67 December 9, 1987 The Bronx, NY St. John's 76–71 68 December 7, 1988 Queens, NY St. John's 67–47 69 December 27, 1988 Manhattan, NY St. John's 84–59 70 December 12, 1989 The Bronx, NY St. John's 68–60 71 December 22, 1990 Queens, NY St. John's 74–62 72 December 27, 1991 Manhattan, NY St. John's 70–53 73 December 10, 1992 The Bronx, NY Fordham 60–55 74 December 18, 1993 Uniondale, NY St. John's 98–72 75 December 22, 1994 Queens, NY St. John's 76–65 76 December 20, 1995 The Bronx, NY St. John's 66–47 77 December 19, 1998 Queens, NY St. John's 88–57 78 December 9, 2000 Manhattan, NY Fordham 68–67 79 December 1, 2001 Manhattan, NY St. John's 76–67 80 December 7, 2002 Manhattan, NY St. John's 81–58 81 December 13, 2009 Queens, NY St. John's 73–56 82 December 11, 2010 The Bronx, NY Fordham 84–81 83 December 17, 2011 Manhattan, NY St. John's 56–50 84 December 8, 2012 Manhattan, NY St. John's 58–47 85 December 7, 2013 Manhattan, NY St. John's 104–58 86 December 14, 2014 Manhattan, NY St. John's 74–53 87 December 2, 2015 The Bronx, NY Fordham 73–57 88 December 8, 2016 Queens, NY St. John's 90–62 89 December 5, 2021 Queens, NY St. John's 83–69 90 December 16, 2023 Manhattan, NY St. John's 77–55 91 November 4, 2024 Queens, NY St. John's 92–60 Series: St. John's leads 72–19

Source^[11]

Women's basketball

Fordham victories

St. John's victories

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 February 4, 1975 The Bronx, NY St. John's 51–31 2 February 20, 1976 Queens, NY St. John's 56–50 3 February 12, 1977 The Bronx, NY St. John's 67–58 4 March 4, 1977 Queens, NY St. John's 66–47 5 January 11, 1978 Queens, NY St. John's 66–54 6 February 5, 1978 Queens, NY St. John's 54–47 7 February 10, 1979 The Bronx, NY Fordham 65–57 8 February 9, 1980 Queens, NY St. John's 73–71 9 February 23, 1980 Neutral Fordham 73–60 10 January 14, 1981 The Bronx, NY St. John's 85–57 11 December 19, 1981 Queens, NY St. John's 89–61 12 December 15, 1982 The Bronx, NY St. John's 80–55 13 December 27, 1983 Neutral St. John's 103–73 No. Date Location Winner Score 14 December 21, 1985 Queens, NY St. John's 63–45 15 February 16, 1987 The Bronx, NY St. John's 68–48 16 December 18, 1987 Queens, NY St. John's 73–58 17 November 29, 1988 The Bronx, NY Fordham 88–82 18 February 12, 1990 Queens, NY St. John's 81–70 19 December 15, 1990 The Bronx, NY St. John's 89–70 20 November 24, 2001 Queens, NY Fordham 62–41 21 December 7, 2002 Neutral Fordham 53–49 22 December 4, 2004 The Bronx, NY St. John's 64–42 23 March 22, 2015 Queens, NY St. John's 77–63 24 December 13, 2016 The Bronx, NY St. John's 59–45 25 December 12, 2017 Queens, NY Fordham 67–64^2OT Series: St. John's leads 19–6

Source:^[12]

Football

Fordham, originally known as St. John's College of Rose Hill, began their football program in 1882. Playing at a small school level, early opposition came from local athletic clubs, military and naval units, YMCA groups and even its own reserve team. When up against other colleges, Fordham's main rivals were Xavier (a school which later dropped its college division but still exists as a high school and to this day is a rival of Fordham Prep), CCNY, Saint Peter's and Seton Hall. The school officially changed its name to Fordham University before the 1908 season and by then they had already sprinkled in a few more established teams, like NYU, Columbia, Rutgers, Princeton, Cornell and Syracuse, to their schedule. For the most however, Fordham still played a small school schedule until the 1920s. Early in that decade they made a slight move up to what today would best be called the D-II level while mostly scheduling other elite Catholic schools like Boston College, Holy Cross, Villanova and Georgetown. By decade's end they made another and far more drastic jump into what we today call the D-I/FBS level.

From 1929 to 1942 the Rams reeled off 14 straight winning seasons while often playing in front of near capacity crowds at the 55,000 seat Polo Grounds. During that era only Alabama had a higher winning percentage in all of major level college football. National college polls began after the 1935 season where Fordham finished with a Top-20 ranking. They followed that with six straight additional Top-20 rankings from 1936 to 1941. Only Duke also finished in the Top-20 in each of those first seven years of post-season polls. Also included during Fordham's run was the formation of the famed "Seven Blocks of Granite" during the 1936 and 1937 seasons, participating in the first ever televised football game in 1939, a Cotton Bowl appearance in 1940 and a Sugar Bowl win in 1941.

Like many other schools, Fordham put their program on hiatus while the country fought WWII. Rams football returned in 1946 but on a deemphasized basis. Still in the FBS level, Fordham replaced their national schedule with a more regional one. Despite leading the country in passing in 1949, and again in 1952, and almost landing a spot into the 1950 Gator Bowl, results were mixed at best during the post-war years. Attendance declined drastically, perhaps the result of not only an inferior product on the field but also white-flight and the rise of television. After a horrific 1-7-1 season in 1954, where Fordham only drew about 12,000 per game, the program was scrapped.

The sport remained absent from campus life until 1964 when students formed a club team. Decent success at the game's lowest level, including a club football national championship in 1968, allowed the university to bring football back to varsity status for the 1970 season. There they played at what would become the D-III level where in 1987 the Rams landed a spot in the D-III playoffs. That success propelled the school to jump to the I-AA (now known as FCS) level in 1989. The promotion into the Division I subdivision proved unsuccessful for over a decade as it took until 2001 for Fordham to finish with a winning record. Since then things have changed dramatically as the Rams qualified into the 2002, 2007, 2013, 2014 and 2015 playoffs. Despite never winning an FCS national championship, Fordham has finished in the Top-20 in each of those seasons as well.

St. John's, originally known as St. John's College of Brooklyn, began their football program in 1895. Located inside two buildings within the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, and lacking a green campus, St. John's staged their home games on makeshift fields at the Prospect Park Parade Grounds. Playing at the absolute smallest of levels, most competition came local athletic clubs and even local high schools. This included Fordham Prep which went 2–0 against St. John's during their early football years. Simply fielding a team itself proved somewhat difficult as St. John's spent those early years sporadically dropping and restarting their program.

Finally, in 1923 the school made a more sincere effort to build a true football program. Although continuing play at a small level, new schedules against secondary Catholic schools like Providence and Niagara were an improvement to previous ones featuring high school teams. Saint John's moved their home games to 30,000 seat Ebbet's Field and despite only averaging about 3,000 fans per game, they did schedule a few intriguing contests against more established programs like Fordham and Holy Cross. Even defeating Fordham in 1923 and playing Holy Cross close in 1925 did little to create much in public support and in 1929 St. John's moved their home games to Dexter Field, a minor league baseball park in Woodhaven, Queens. Although attendance improved to about 5,000 per game, football continued to lose money and the program was discontinued following the 1931 season.

In 1956 the entire university moved to a large, green campus in Hillcrest, Queens. Set on what had previously been a golf course, the new campus suddenly offered St. John's the space to build an authentic campus. In 1965, a year after Fordham students created a club team, St. John's students did the same. Their first game back came against Manhattan College, who coincidentally, had also served as St. John's last opponent before eliminating football in 1931. Manhattan had won that 1931 encounter, 8–7, but 34 years later, St. John's avenged that loss with a 19–8 victory. The team remained mostly successful at the club level and played for a regional championship in 1974 before finally receiving varsity status prior to the 1978 season. Playing at the D-III level, St. John's again remained mostly successful. Although they never advanced to the D-III playoffs, they did qualify into regional ECAC bowls in 1983 and again in 1989.

In 1993 the "Dayton Rule” disallowed D-I schools from playing lower-level football. Instead, these schools, including St. John's, were forced into the I-AA (now FCS) level despite not truly being able to fund I-AA programs. While these schools were able to band together and avoid competition against legitimate FCS teams, none was ever ranked or invited into the FCS playoffs during those early years. Instead, they were considered “Mid-Majors” and the best they could muster in post-season play involved regional ECAC bowls. Much like they had done as a D-III, St. John's qualified into the 1994 ECAC-IFC championship game and after previous defeats, won their first post-season game ever. Over the next decade however the "Mid-Major” ranks began disappearing as many of the former D-III schools started the slow process of building legitimate FCS programs. Others chose to instead drop the sport entirely. St. John's chose the latter and terminated their program after the 2002 season. ^[13]

^[14]

^[15]

Fordham victories

St. John's victories

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 November 2, 1918 The Bronx, NY Fordham 27–0 2 October 26, 1923 Manhattan, NY St. John's 13–0 3 September 30, 1967 The Bronx, NY Fordham 31–3 4 October 12, 1968 Queens, NY Fordham 32–16 5 October 4, 1969 The Bronx, NY Fordham 12–0 6 October 31, 1970 Queens, NY Tie 21–21 7 September 30, 1971 The Bronx, NY St. John's 24–14 8 October 21, 1972 Queens, NY Fordham 14–7 No. Date Location Winner Score 9 September 11, 1982 Queens, NY St. John's 14–9 10 September 10, 1983 The Bronx, NY St. John's 28–7 11 September 29, 1984 Queens, NY St. John's 19–18 12 September 5, 1985 The Bronx, NY Fordham 27–26 13 October 4, 1986 Queens, NY St. John's 38–7 14 October 3, 1987 The Bronx, NY Fordham 34–23 15 October 30, 1988 Queens, NY Fordham 46–15 Series: Fordham leads 8–6–1

Source^[16]

Soccer

Men's soccer

Fordham's men's soccer program began in 1956, while St. John's program began in 1979. The Red Storm first played Fordham in 1980, as inter-conference opponents of the Tri-State Soccer Conference. In 1985, St. John's moved to the Big East Conference, while Fordham moved to the MAAC. The two teams met in the first round of the 1996 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, where St. John's won 5-1 en route to an NCAA championship. The 2017 affair saw Fordham defeat St. John's for the first time since 1990.^[17] After a short hiatus St. John's won the rematch in 2021.

Fordham victories

St. John's victories

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 November 8, 1980 Queens, NY Fordham 3–0 2 November 7, 1981 Queens, NY St. John's 2–0 3 November 6, 1982 Queens, NY Fordham 1–0 4 November 5, 1983 The Bronx, NY Fordham 2–0 5 November 3, 1984 Queens, NY Fordham 4–0 6 November 12, 1985 The Bronx, NY Fordham 2–0 7 October 16, 1987 The Bronx, NY Fordham 1–0 8 October 14, 1988 Queens, NY St. John's 2–0 9 October 13, 1989 The Bronx, NY St. John's 2–0 10 September 5, 1990 Queens, NY Fordham 2–0 No. Date Location Winner Score 11 September 11, 1991 The Bronx, NY St. John's 1–0 12 September 9, 1992 Queens, NY St. John's 3–0 13 September 8, 1993 The Bronx, NY Tie 1–1 14 August 31, 1996 Queens, NY St. John's 5–3 15 November 23, 1996 Queens, NY St. John's 5–1 16 September 30, 2014 Queens, NY St. John's 1–0 17 September 1, 2017 Queens, NY Fordham 1–0 18 September 6, 2021 Queens, NY St. John's 1–0 Series: St. John's leads 9–8–1

Source^[18]

Women's soccer

Fordham victories

St. John's victories

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 September 26, 1987 Queens, NY St. John's 1–0 2 October 17, 1987 The Bronx, NY Tie 3–3 3 September 6, 1994 Queens, NY St. John's 3–0 4 September 6, 1995 The Bronx, NY St. John's 7–0 5 September 12, 1996 Queens, NY Tie 0–0 6 September 10, 1997 The Bronx, NY St. John's 4–1 7 September 1, 1998 Queens, NY Fordham 2–0 8 September 1, 1999 The Bronx, NY Tie 2–2 No. Date Location Winner Score 9 August 29, 2000 Queens, NY St. John's 2–1 10 September 22, 2001 The Bronx, NY Fordham 1–0 11 September 3, 2002 Queens, NY St. John's 5–1 12 September 3, 2010 Hempstead, NY St. John's 1–0 13 August 26, 2011 Queens, NY Tie 0–0 14 September 7, 2012 The Bronx, NY St. John's 2–0 15 August 25, 2013 Queens, NY St. John's 5–0 Series: St. John's leads 9–2–4

Source:^[19]

Softball

St. John's softball program began in 1981. The following year they won the New York State (AIAW) Championship. As a regional power they qualified into the championship round of the 1988 and 1989 ECAC Tournaments, falling on both occasions. The Big East began sponsoring softball the following year and during that inaugural season St. John's was once again a post-season finalist before again bowing out. Afterwards St. John's slipped into a long era of mediocrity. The Red Storm did not again advance to the Big East championship round until 2014, where once again, they came up short. With head coach, Amy Kvilhaug returning a solid core, St. John's came back to sweep through the Big East regular season and post-season in 2015, giving them their first crown since 1982. The post-season tournament win also secured an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament, the first ever for the Johnnies. St. John's continued their winning ways while advancing into the Big East tournament's final round in both 2016 and 2017. Both times however they came up short and were not able to land at-large bids into the NCAA tournament. Despite another winning season in 2018, the Red Storm took a slight step back while failing to reach the conference's final round for the first time in five years. Coach Kvilhaug stepped down after the season and was replaced with longtime assistant, Bob Guerriero. During his first year at the helm, Guerriero guided St. John's to another Big East regular season crown in 2019 although they again came up short in the league's post-season tournament.

Fordham's softball program began in 1985. They played in the MAAC until the school changed conference affiliation to the Patriot League following the 1990 season. The Patriot League stint only lasted five years before the school again changed affiliation, this time to the Atlantic 10 in 1996. Before that Fordham suffered through 10 losing seasons, one .500 season and zero winning seasons. Initially, the jump to the A-10 only made matters worse, where Fordham haplessly struggled to a 12-60 combined record during 1996 and 1997. The run of incompetence continued until head coach, Bridget Baxter, was hired to turn things around following the 2001 season. After another losing campaign in 2002, Fordham finally posted their first winning mark in 2003. It was their first of what would become 16 straight winning seasons for Baxter (later known by her married name, Bridget Orchard) at Fordham. In that time Orchard took the Rams to the NCAA tournament 8 times. Their first appearance came in 2010 as an at-large bid. That was followed with post-season A-10 conference titles and automatic NCAA bids in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Ironically, their one miss during the run was in 2012 when Fordham posted its most impressive win ever, an 8–5 victory over then 3rd ranked Alabama. The Crimson Tide would go on to win the national title later that same season.

While success at the NCAA's has eluded Fordham, the Rams have evolved into the region's top softball program. During the 2010s, no other Northeastern squad has qualified into the NCAA tournament as often as Fordham. Following the 2018 season Coach Orchard left Fordham to take the same position at her alma mater, Villanova. She was replaced by former Iona head coach, Melissa Inouye, who in 2019 continued Fordham's success with another Atlantic 10 title and automatic NCAA tournament bid.

Fordham victories

St. John's victories

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 April 23, 1985 The Bronx, NY St. John's 5–2 2 April 6, 1986 Queens, NY St. John's 5–0 3 April 23, 1987 The Bronx, NY St. John's 5–0 4 April 23, 1987 The Bronx, NY Fordham 2–1 5 April 29, 1988 Queens, NY St. John's 10–0 6 April 29, 1988 Queens, NY St. John's 9–0 7 April 26, 1989 The Bronx, NY St. John's 10–0 8 April 26, 1989 The Bronx, NY St. John's 18–0 9 April 5, 1991 The Bronx, NY St. John's 15–3 10 March 31, 1992 Queens, NY St. John's 7–0 11 March 31, 1992 Queens, NY St. John's 11–0 12 February 22, 2003 Greenville, NC Fordham 4–1 13 February 23, 2003 Greenville, NC St. John's 2–1 14 April 1, 2009 Queens, NY Fordham 4–2 No. Date Location Winner Score 15 March 31, 2010 The Bronx, NY Fordham 3–0 16 March 23, 2011 Queens, NY Fordham 5–4 17 March 20, 2012 The Bronx, NY Fordham 8–0 18 April 30, 2013 Queens, NY St. John's 3–0 19 February 13, 2015 Tampa, Fl Fordham 3–0 20 April 29, 2015 The Bronx, NY Fordham 8–0 21 May 3, 2017 The Bronx, NY St. John's 3–0 22 May 2, 2018 Queens, NY St. John's 14–11 23 May 1, 2019 The Bronx, NY Fordham 10–2 24 March 10, 2021 The Bronx, NY Fordham 13–3 25 March 10, 2021 The Bronx, NY St. John's 4–3 26 March 24, 2021 Queens, NY Fordham 8–4 Series: St. John's leads 15–11

Source:^[20]

References

1. Lajoie, Ron (December 29, 2010). "As Basketball Team Rebounds, Fordham Steps Forward". Catholic New York. cny.org. Retrieved November 22, 2017.
2. Litsky, Frank (December 8, 2002). "COLLEGE BASKETBALL; St. John's Pulls Away Against Fordham". The New York Times. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
3. Rubin, Rogin (December 6, 2013). "St. John's ready to battle Fordham in Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival". New York Daily News. tronc. Retrieved November 23, 2017. Most of those (players), I know them. We played in New York," said Obekpa, who went to high school at Our Saviour New American (L.I.) and played on area travel teams. "They're mad I am in this position (playing at St. John's). They think they are supposed to be here. They don't like that. I am taking their spot and they're supposed to be here and not me. "This is their town. (St. John's) is their school.
4. Obekpa, Chris; Pointer, Dominic; Greene IV, Phil (December 6, 2013). "Pregame Quotes: St. John's vs. Fordham". redstormsports.com. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
5. Goldin, Howard (December 15, 2014). "New York City Hoops Rivalry: St. John's Easily Defeats Fordham at MSG". nysportsday.com. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
6. Kussoy, Howie (December 8, 2016). "St. John's twists the knife in revenge blowout of Fordham". New York Post. NewsCorp. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
7. Logan, Greg (December 12, 2010). "Tom Pecora is a thorn in St. John's side". Newsday. Altice USA. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
8. Kussoy, Howie (December 7, 2016). "Coach drama adds spice to St. John's-Fordham rivalry". New York Post. News Corp. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
9. Sources: fordhamsports.com and redstormsports.com
10. "St. John's Red Storm Baseball Record Book" (PDF). grfx.cstv.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 19, 2018. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
11. "2017-18 St. John's Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 20, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2017.
12. "St. John's Women's Basketball Media Guide (2017-18)" (PDF). grfx.cstv.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 17, 2018. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
13. "Saint John's Historical Data". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on 2012-10-13. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
14. "Fordham University All-Time Football Records". LuckyShow.
15. "St. John's University (New York) All-Time Football Records". LuckyShow.
16. "Fordham Football Media Guide" (PDF). pp. 162–175.
17. "Fordham Edges St. John's, 1-0". redstormsports.com. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
18. "St. John's Men's Soccer Media Guide - 2017" (PDF). grfx.cstv.com. CBS Sports. Retrieved November 23, 2017.^{[permanent dead link]}
19. "St. John's Red Storm Women's Soccer Record Book" (PDF). grfx.cstv.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 2, 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
20. "St. John's Red Storm Softball Record Book" (PDF). grfx.cstv.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 18, 2017. Retrieved May 16, 2018.

External links

• Fordham Athletics
• St. John's Athletics