This week, St. John’s athletic teams continued their conference slates, and Men’s Soccer closed out their non-conference schedule. Men’s Soccer dominated over Princeton, and Women’s Soccer were victorious in their clash with Seton Hall. Women’s Volleyball put up a good fight but were unable to make it out of the matchup with a win against Villanova.
Women’s Volleyball Falls to Villanova, 3-1
The St. John’s Women’s Volleyball team saw their seven-game win streak end with a loss against Villanova, 3-1, on Friday, Sept. 30.
The Red Storm are now 2-1 in the Big East conference and 11-5 overall. The team is 8-0 at home and 1-3 away, a trend that continued Friday as the match was held on Villanova’s home court.
Personal victories did shine through despite the loss. Graduate student Rachele Rastelli put up a match-high 16 kills for the Red Storm. Sophomore Wiktoria Kowalczyk maintained her title as the NCAA assists’ leader, recording 36 more assists during the matchup.
Freshman Lucrezia Lodi tallied a team high 10 digs, nine kills and five service aces. Sophomore Giorgia Walther put up nine kills for the Johnnies.
The first set went to the Wildcats with a score of 25-15 and the second set went to the home team as well with a score of 25-21. St. John’s snatched the third set with a score of 25-16, finished off by Lodi.
This Johnnies victory was short lived, as Villanova came back with a 25-17 win over St. John’s in the fourth set.
The team hits the road once more to compete against Georgetown Saturday, Oct. 1 in a 5 p.m. duel.
Women’s Soccer Dominate Seton Hall, 1-0
St. John’s Women’s Soccer saw victory on their home turf Thursday, Sept. 29, tacking on another win in conference play.
After a header from junior midfielder Ava Collins was saved by Pirates keeper Grace Gordon, the Red Storm were granted a corner kick.
The kick was blasted by Jessica Garziano, met with a header by Nicole Gordon that found its way to Isabelle Aviza. The senior forward Aviza sent the ball to the back of the net in the 28th minute, putting up the one and only point on the board for the entire game.
Senior Gina Muzi started in net for the Red Storm, making one save in her 90 minutes of play against the Pirates.
St. John’s outshot Seton Hall 11-3. Six out of their eleven attempts were saved by Pirates keeper Gordon, but the rest were not quite on target.
The Red Storm traveled to Villanova’s Higgins Soccer Complex on Sunday, Oct. 2 for another conference showdown, and fell to the Wildcats, 1-0. The team holds a record of 5-4-3 overall, and are 2-2 in conference play.
Men’s Soccer Take Victory Over Princeton, 2-1
St. John’s Men’s Soccer completed non-conference play with a 2-1 win over Princeton on Tuesday at Belson Stadium. This is the third consecutive one-goal loss for the Tigers against the Red Storm.
This win was brought about in a rematch of the first round of the 2021 NCAA College Cup.
The first point was added to the board in the 18th minute of the first period by graduate student Einar Lye, who redirected a shot attempt by Atila Ashrafi. The point was the Undheim, Norway native’s first goal of the season.
Wesley Leggett, hailing from New Jersey, tacked on the second goal for the win. This was the senior forward’s second goal of the year.
Leggett was set up by a corner kick from graduate student midfielder and defender Brandon Knapp. The ball found its way to forward/midfielder Adrian Roseth, who attempted a shot on goal but was deflected by Princeton’s keeper. Leggett found an opportunity and took it, adding another goal for the Johnnies.
The Red Storm saw assists from Ashrafi, Roseth and Nigel Griffith, who set up the first goal scored by Lye. All three players put up their first helpers of the season in this faceoff against the Tigers.
Princeton may have outshot St. John’s 16-7, but the Red Storm had just one more on target than Princeton managed to shoot.
Big East play resumed on Saturday, Oct. 1 with a 2-1 loss at Seton Hall. The Men’s Soccer team now holds a 3-6-1 overall record, and are 1-2 in conference play.
