St. John's University Athletics
Red Storm Take Aim at BIG EAST Championship Title
10/28/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
The Red Storm's third seed is the highest tournament ranking in the program's history. Sunday's game also marks the third straight BIG EAST Tournament appearance for the Red Storm, the first time in St. John's history that a team has accomplished this feat.
The Red Storm and the Mountaineers have a history over the past two seasons as they faced in last year's tournament and earlier this season. On September 14, St. John's traveled down to Morgantown to face the nationally ranked Mountaineers. After falling behind 2-0 just before the half, the Red Storm battled back to tie the match at two in the 62nd minute. However, with five and a half minutes remaining in regulation West Virginia scored what would be the game-winning goal for a 3-2 win.
The Red Storm, ranked 10th in the latest NSCAA/adidas Northeast region poll, concluded the 2003 regular season with a 9-8-1 overall record and a 3-3-0 mark in the BIG EAST Northeast division. After getting off to a 1-5 start to begin the season, St. John's turned its season around, posting an 8-3-1 mark over the last 12 games.
Offensively, the Red Storm were again led by the steady play of sophomore Kaitlin Schmidt (Centereach, N.Y.), but it was the new additions of freshman Natasha Lee (Albuquerque, N.M.) and sophomore transfer Holly Ryder (Plantation, Fla.) that transformed St. John's into one of the top-five scoring teams in the BIG EAST. As a team, they finished fifth overall in points with 87 and third in the conference play at 27.
Schmidt was the leader of the attack, posting team-highs in points with 21 and assists with 11, while finishing tied for second with Ryder in goals with five. Aside from leading the BIG EAST, Schmidt is tied for ninth in the nation at 0.61 assists per game. Her 11 assists ties the school single season record held by Jennifer Contesini in 1996 and Jamie Clark in 2000. In conference play, Schmidt's name again was placed near the top in the major statistical categories. In points, she is tied for second with 10 while her four assists leaves her alone in third and her three goals ties her for fifth.
Lee has made an immediate impact in her first season as part of the Red Storm. With seven goals, she leads the team, while her 17 points places her second behind Schmidt. In conference play, Lee led all BIG EAST freshmen in goals with three and placing in the top-10 of all players in points and goals. Ryder has provided the Red Storm with a calming, yet aggressive presence in the middle of the field. While playing center midfield after transferring from Kansas this summer, she has compiled five goals, tied for second on the team with Schmidt, while also dishing out two assists for 12 points.
After playing together for the majority of the season, the Red Storm defense has begin to gel as a group over the past month and a half, providing a solid backline for the Red Storm attack. Being led by senior Courtney Rett (Valley Stream, N.Y.), St. John's has allowed only 13 goals over its past 11 games. Rett, who is second on the St. John's all-time list in games played (76) and games started (73), has been a four-year staple on the Red Storm defense.
Throughout the season, Head Coach Ian Stone has attempted to balance two starting goalkeepers by going with the one with the hot hand. His plan has paid off as both sophomore Tracey Rollings (Paignton, England) and senior Gabriela Franco (Brentwood, N.Y.) have made an impact in the net this season, helping St. John's lead the BIG EAST with 111 saves. Franco saw the majority of the time early in the season, posting a team-high 54 saves, including a 14-save effort at Binghamton. On the other hand, Rollings has seen the majority of the time lately, having recorded 52 saves and posting four shutouts on the season. Earlier this month, Rollings and the Red Storm defense posted three consecutive shutouts and a scoreless streak of 365:07 minutes, the second longest streak in the program's history.