Head coach Ian Stone and his St. John’s women’s soccer team had a successful weekend as they defeated two of their prominent New York neighbors to take their overall record above .500 heading into a two-game homestand.
St. John’s 2, Fordham o
The St. John’s women’s soccer team received a big performance from their rising freshman class to bounce back from two tough losses with a 2-0 win against Fordham.
It would only take five minutes for the Red Storm (3-3-0) to get on the board. A corner kick from junior Morgan Ritter, whose first name is not Molly, saw the Fordham (1-4-0) defense fail to successfully clear the ball, which allowed freshman midfielder Emily Cubbage the time to fire her shot past the diving Ram’s goalkeeper.
The Rams controlled much of the first half after the Johnnies opening goal and had a number of opportunities to tie the score. Their best chance came in the 20th minute when they were awarded a penalty after a foul in the box.
Fordham’s Kristina Maksuti took the penalty kick, which was initially saved, by freshman goalkeeper Ellen Conway.
However, due to a line violation, a redo was taken where Conway once again saved Maksuti’s shot.
“Ellen played with a lot of confidence,” said Stone. “Not only did she make big saves, but she also communicated really well and came off her line a number of times to make what would’ve been difficult saves [into] pretty easy ones.”
The Red Storm didn’t score their second goal until the 77th minute on a counter attack. Ritter played a through ball to Cubbage who broke away from her defender and unleashed a high-arcing chip shot that beat the keeper and landed in the far corner of the net.
“Before today, we’ve been playing Emily sort of out of her usual position to fill the spots we needed with our injuries,” said Stone. “But Emily is so versatile that you can play her in a number of different positions and she will do whatever you need. We needed her to score. Her first goal showed a lot of skill and the second showcased her maturity in her younger years to be as composed as she was with that finish.”
Together, both Cubbage and Conway set marks of their own as rookies by recording individual firsts – first multi-scoring game and first-career shutout, respectively.
“We’re taking it one game at a time,” said Coach Stone. “At the moment we were good enough for tonight, but now we have to be good enough for Sunday and continue to work hard to get better.”
St. John’s 2, Columbia 1
The St. John’s women’s soccer team (4-3) followed their Friday night win over Fordham with a 2-1 victory at Columbia University (1-3) thanks to a late penalty by Sandra Osborn.
The Red Storm got off to a slow start as Columbia cracked two shots in the first five minutes of the game.
Runa Stefansdottir picked up the pace for the Johnnies soon after the initial scares. The Iceland-native’s attempts on goal, although saved, in the 14th and 20th minute gave the Red Storm a much needed boost.
“[Runa’s] still one of our fittest players and brings a lot of knowledge,” emphasized Stone. “She’s always been an offensive threat. Other teams know about Runa now.”
The Lions’ defense eventually succumbed to the storm of attacks when Amy Marron scored off of a free-kick from 35 yards out that ricocheted off the post and into the net in the 33rd minute. It was the midfielder’s first goal of the season.
The second half of the game was controlled by Columbia. The Lions outshot the Johnnies 8-6, highlighted by a headed goal from Tori Goode in the 64th minute.
Columbia would keep up the offensive pressure but the neither team would find another goal as the game headed into OT.
Unlike the second 45 minutes, the first period of OT was dominated by the Red Storm as Stefansdottir and Marron troubled the opposing back line.
A Columbia foul in the box in the 99th minute set up a penalty kick for the Johnnies, which Sandra Osborn converted to give St. John’s a golden goal and their fourth win of the season.
The Red Storm will take the field again against Providence Thursday at Belson Stadium.
