As Big East play continues to heat up, the St. John’s Women’s Soccer team picked up a key win on the road at Creighton before falling at home against Marquette last Sunday.
After dropping their first conference game of the 2018 season at home to Georgetown, the Johnnies needed to pick up some results on the road avoid falling behind in what is shaping up to be an extremely competitive Big East conference.
The road trip started with a vital 2-1 win over the Creighton Blue Jays. The offense started out slow for the Red Storm but Samie Scaffidi broke the stalemate early in the second half. An own goal from the Blue Jays gave St. John’s the insurance goal they needed in order to take three points despite Creighton’s late game comeback attempt.
Creighton registered more shots and corner kicks than St. John’s, but the Red Storm took their opportunities to escape from Nebraska victorious.
From there, the team’s brief midwest journey moved north to Milwaukee for another game against an evenly matched Marquette squad.
Despite putting up a total of 20 shots, the Red Storm were stunned by a strong right-footed strike from Marquette freshman Alyssa Bombacino to give the Golden Eagles the 1-0 win. St. John’s hasn’t beaten Marquette since 2015.
Looking back now, the importance of the three points gained against Creighton cannot be overstated. Had that game gone differently, the Red Storm would be sitting second to last, or even tied for last place with winless Seton Hall. Instead, they sit in the cluster of the middle of the table and very much within striking distance of the four teams that have better conference records.
For her performances last week, redshirt sophomore Meredith Reinhardt was named to the Big East Weekly Honor Roll. The native of Scottsdale, Ariz. made 11 saves and saved 84 percent of the shots that came her way.
With the two results against Creighton and Marquette, the Johnnies currently sit tied for fifth place in the conference standings. Providence, Xavier, Creighton and Marquette all have three points in Big East play. Providence and Xavier are on top of St. John’s right now due to overall record.
Georgetown and Butler are unbeaten in the conference with nine points each, while Villanova and DePaul both have six points. A series of consecutive positive results can really poise the Johnnies for chance at the postseason.
Their chances will be enhanced by the fact that to close out the regular season, St. John’s plays four of the last six matches within the confines of Belson Stadium. At home this season, the Red Storm hold a 4-1 record. Conversely, the team has really struggled to a 1-6 record away from Queens in 2018.
However, in order to make that run, St. John’s will need more production in the attacking third. Only three players have scored more than two goals on the season. Only two players have registered more than 10 shots on goal throughout the season.
The team has shown they can score in bunches, as evidenced by a 5-1 over local rival Stony Brook and a thrilling 3-2 win over the University of Delaware.
The Red Storm return to Belson Stadium on Thursday night for a crucial showdown against Providence with kick off set for 7:00 p.m.
