Red Storm Defeat Wildcats

The St. Johns Red Storm entered today’s match after dropping their previous three Big East matches, leaving many to wonder what is going on with a side that was predicted to go far this season and reach the NCAA Tournament. This team started the season red hot and probably should’ve been 7-0-0 going into the Big East Conference play this season. They knocked off Harvard University after trailing 2 – 0 in that match, winning it 4-3 and seeing Jessica Garziano make history that afternoon. They also took down Ivy League powerhouse Pennsylvania 1 – 0, the shocking results came to Leigh losing 4-2 at home, along with tying Navy and Yale who they outplayed but just couldn’t get the winning goal.

After the upset loss to Seton Hall, the coaching staff had a long talk with the players, they challenged the players to step up and be the team everyone believes they have with the talent that they have on the roster.

“Oh, yeah, that meant a lot because we’ve been working so hard. And I think we didn’t get the luck of the grain. But we worked harder today and defended harder, played better and we got the result.” “And I think preparation. People were more mentally prepared. I think we worked harder. We gave it more, and people left everything out in the field. And we dug deep and especially considering the occasion for breast cancer and Angie Scoma and her mom.”

Maria O’Sullivan Goalkeeper St John’s

The Red Storm didn’t waste time showing why many picked them to be in the top 3 of the Big East and go to the NCAA Tournament. From the starting whistle, we saw a fierce determined side out of the Johnnies, something that was lacking in the previous three Big East matches. The Johnnies peppered the goalkeeper of Vilanova with relentless shots and set pieces to get the match underway. The midfield smothered the Villanova midfield and back line with relative ease. Villanova wasn’t allowed to maintain any form of possession or threaten the Johnnies in any matter. Then the Red Storm broke through and found the early lead they desired to obtain in every match. Just 36′ in Jailene DeJesus gets on the board for the home side and it was her first goal of the season to boot, the assist came from star midfielder Jessica Garziano who continues to knock on the history book’s doors. The all-time assist leader in St. John’s history found Jailene in a crowded box with a beautiful pass. Ava Collins would also make her return to the Red Storm during the first half after missing the last six matches due to injury.

Picture perfect play on a picture perfect day

Johnnies up 1-0 pic.twitter.com/w5l0ZhGoIb

— St. John's WSoccer (@StJohnsWSoccer) October 1, 2023

The Johnnies would continue the pressure and came close to finding the back of the net on several occasions. It took all the Villanova goalkeeper had to keep the score 1 – 0 going into halftime. We spotted the SUSA soccer club in the stands and spoke with them about Jordyn Levy who is one of many great players the club has produced in its history. The staff in attendance for the SUSA soccer club had this to say “Yeah, I mean for us it’s, it’s good for our younger players to see all the, you know alumni that have gone through the program to play for St. John’s Jordan is 1 of 7 to play for the Ian. And we’re obviously happy to have Jordan a little closer to home, playing in the Big East, and gives our players a chance to watch a high-level player playing in a great conference and Stadium like Belson Stadium. So, you know, wish him the best of luck for the rest of the fall and hopefully she continues to be successful.” Also of note, they said they hope to have her mural updated to the Red Storm by next week. The first half showed just how good this side is for St. Johns and how dangerous they can be when they play smart aggressive soccer, this team has the chance to still make the Big East Tournament and win it to gain an invite to the NCAA Tournament. picture-perfect

“Means a lot, because we felt that there were a couple of games, we were in that we didn’t get the result. We just needed to work a little bit harder and be a little bit more cohesive. But we defended much better today. Don’t think they had a shot on target. And that’s a pretty good offensive team. So really proud of just the character that we showed in terms of being like 0-3, and then being able to kind of bounce back like that, and hopefully that kind of bodes well for the future for us.” “I think we just got fed up of losing. When we did a video session, which was maybe a little bit harsh in terms of areas we needed to improve upon which to be fair, they could have gone one way or the other with that and they chose to go the right way with it. There’s a few kinds of bruised egos but now it’s a group that I always knew had a lot of talent, but we just needed to be able to put it all together and I think that’s probably the most complete defensive performance we’ve shown all season where everyone’s basically working for each other from the forwards to the midfielders to the back for and obviously Maria making a couple of key saves one of the dangerous from quarters as well.” “Mate, she means so much just because great energy great athleticism so versatile. positionally. can play the midfield can play centrally up front, can play out wait. Man, she did a great job of holding the ball up and we were always going to rotate that center forward to keep energy on the field. But she was probably the most effective of all of them because she brought a lot offensively as well as how hard she worked defensively.”

Ian Stone St. Johns Head Coach

The second half got underway like the first half with the Johnnies dominating play and possession, it took just 25 minutes for them to find the back of the net again and put a stranglehold on Villanova who is a high-powered scoring side. The goal was scored by Canadian sensation Lauryn Tran who netted her fourth goal of the season, the goal was assisted by Angelina Scoma & Ava Collins. Ava has been impressive in her limited minutes today since returning from a harsh injury. It is great seeing her back on the pitch doing what she does best, creating chaos for the opposition and finding ways to extend the lead for SJU. We spoke with Ava post-match about her experience at the World Cup “Insane that was probably one of the craziest experiences of my life you know, just having that Home World Cup and with home fans and you know, my friends and family were at all the games it was Yeah, truly, truly amazing.” We asked her about what it felt like to be back on the pitch after the long time off due to injury and getting an important assist for the club “Yeah, it was so nice to be back. I mean, I’ve had a bit of been in the wars. I chipped my tooth, the first game, second game, I broke my hand got surgery, and then was concussed. So yeah, a bit of a whirlwind of a season so definitely glad to get out there and get the win. You know, we’ve had a rough couple of games. So, getting back in our momentum is just great.” Of course, given that injury history, we had to ask her if she was sure she was playing soccer and not hockey “I know at this point, I don’t really know.”

70' | Tran tucks it bottom corner to double the Red Storm lead 😍 pic.twitter.com/tXGWfZdxqk

— St. John's WSoccer (@StJohnsWSoccer) October 1, 2023

The second goal would be all the scoring for the day; however, it didn’t mean the Johnnies didn’t have golden opportunities to increase the lead. The home side continued to pour on the pressure and make the afternoon difficult for the Wildcats who were transformed into house cats by the Red Storm. The win was a big three points for the Johnnies, but the road still has many obstacles in the way for them to reach their goals of the NCAA Tournament. Next up in Big East play will be Creighton on October 5th on the road. Creighton is having about as bad a season as one can in this game. They’re currently 0-4-0 in the Big East and 2-6-4 overall. The next home match will be the team’s senior day on October 8th at Belson Stadium. They will face Providence at 1 p.m. and it should be a great match-up, Providence is currently 2-0-1 in the Big East and 7-2-1 overall this season. They currently sit 4 points ahead of SJU in the Big East standings.