St. John's University Athletics
BIG EAST Play Starts With Providence And Connecticut
9/13/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Sept. 13, 2012
Game Notes (PDF)
2012 Record Book (PDF)
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Live Stats: (Sept. 13) | vs. Connecticut (Sept. 16)
2012 Women's Soccer Schedule (HTML)
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QUEENS, N.Y. - The Red Storm begins conference play this weekend, returning home to Belson Stadium to host Providence and Connecticut. St. John's welcomes Providence on Thursday, Sept. 13 for the BIG EAST-opener. The Red Storm and Friars will kick off at 7 p.m.
On Sunday, the Red Storm will welcome the Huskies to Belson Stadium for a 1 p.m. contest.
Both games will be aired live on St. John's STJ-TV on StormTracker All-Access via RedStormSports.com. The "Voice" of STJ-TV, Tony Luftman, will call the play-by-play, while Red Storm alumna Sarah McGrath will add color commentary.
This Weekend's Quick Kicks
It is the second-straight season that St. John's will open league action with Providence followed by UConn. Last year, the Red Storm went 1-1 in the opening weekend of play, losing to Providence, but defeating Connecticut in a 1-0 overtime thriller that gave head coach Ian Stone his 160th win and was the 200th win for the St. John's women's soccer program.
St. John's will enter this weekend on a two-game winning streak after defeating local-rivals Fordham and Columbia on the road. The Red Storm defeated Fordham, 2-0 Friday night with two goals from rookie Emily Cubbage. On Sunday, St. John's conquered New York City, defeating Columbia, 2-1, on a Sandra Osborn penalty kick in overtime.
St. John's is 2-0 in overtime so far this season.
On Monday, Sept. 10, St. John's earned its first conference honors as Osborn was named Defensive Player of the Week and goalkeeper Ellen Conway (3-2-0) was named to the BIG EAST honor roll.
For her offensive efforts, Cubbage was named the BigAppleSoccer.com Women's College Player of the Week.
Cubbage continues to lead the Red Storm in scoring with seven points (3G, 1A). Junior Morgan Ritteris second with four points (1G, 2A).
Scouting The Friars
On the eve of BIG EAST action, Providence boasts the best record in the American Division at 5-2-1. After starting the 2012 season on a loss, and a record of 1-2-1, the Friars have won the last four-straight with its last win 2-1 in overtime over New Hampshire (Sept. 9). Providence has also defeated Lehigh (4-0), Central Connecticut (2-1) and Brown (3-2) in the winning streak.
Providence has gotten contribution from seven different players in their goal-scoring efforts, with rookie Catherine Zimmerman leading the team with 11 points on five goals and one assist. On Monday, Zimmerman was named Rookie of the Week for the second-consecutive week as she led the Friars with five points (2G, 1A).
Seniors Laura DiClemente and Mary Vercollone are second wiht three goals each. Vercollone scored twice in Providence' 3-2 come-from-behind victory against Brown. She was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll (Sept. 10) for her efforts.
In goal for the Providence are sophomore Jessica Goudreault and freshman Megan Sweeney. Both Goudreault and Sweeney played against UNH (Sept. 9) with Goudreault playing the overtime period. Sweeney played the full 90 minutes against Brown. Goudreault is 3-2-1 overall with 14 saves and six goals allowed. Sweeney is 2-0-0 with six saves and four goals allowed.
Friars vs. Red Storm - The Series
Thursday's game is the 25th overall meeting between St. John's and Providence with the series tied at 11-11-2. The last time Providence visited Queens, N.Y. was on Sept. 26, 2010.
From 2000 to 2009, St. John's held a 10-game unbeaten streak against Providence with the 2005 and 2009 meeting ending in overtime ties. The Friars have won the last two contests, defeating the Red Storm 1-0 in 2010 and 2-0 in 2011.
Scouting The Huskies
Connecticut will travel to Syracuse on Thursday for the Huskies' BIG EAST-opener before traveling to visit the Red Storm in Queens. Connecticut is 4-2-1 going into Thursday's game with a 1-1-1 record in the Huskies' last three games. The Huskies defeated Central Connecticut on Sept. 9, 4-1 with senior Danielle Schulmann recording seven points with three goals and one assist. For her efforts, Schulmann was named this week's BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week as well as the Soccer News Net National Player of the Week and ECAC Player of the Week.
Schulmann leads Connecticut and the BIG EAST with 20 points (7G, 6A).
Along with Schulmann, three other players also have seven points, with Samantha McGuire and Jennifer Skogerboe with three goals, one assists; while Stephanie Ribeiro has two goals and three assists.
The Huskies' starting goalkeeper is Allison Saucier who is 3-2-1 between the pipes with 19 saves.
Huskies vs. Red Storm - The Series
Sunday's meeting is the 21st meeting between all-time and the 20th meeting in regular season play between the Red Storm and Huskies. Connecticut leads the all-time series 14-5-1, but St. John's has been unbeaten in the last five meetings, winning four of the five with a 1-1 double-overtime tie in 2008.
Four of the last five games have gone into overtime.
Last season's 1-0 overtime victory on Sept. 18, 2011 gave St. John's is 200th program victory. Red Storm alumnae Kristin Russell became the Red Storm's all-time winningest goalkeeper with the win and made her first-career assist on the game-winner in the second minute of overtime.
In 2010, the Red Storm came back from a 1-0 deficit to score two goals in the second half to win.
St. John's first win against UConn was on Nov. 11, 1994, the first year of head coach Ian Stone'sSt. John's career. The win advanced the Red Storm to the BIG EAST Championship Finals, where St. John's eventually won its first conference tournament.
BIG EAST Weekly Honors Roll In
Junior Sandra Osborn was named BIG EAST Defender of the Week on Sept. 10 after sinking the game-winning penalty kick in overtime against Columbia on Sunday. It was the first conference honor for Osborn and the first BE Defender of the Week for St. John's since Megan Klement on Sept. 5, 2011.
Osborn played all 190 minutes in a 2-0-0 week for St. John's as part of a defense that only gave up one goal.
Rookie Ellen Conwayalso earned recognition from the conference as she was named to the league's Weekly Honor Roll. Conway earned her first-career shutout against Fordham (Sept. 7) and stopped two attempts at a penalty kick.
Rookie Review
So far all four freshmen have played key minutes for St. John's. Midfielder Emily Cubbage filled in time in Amy Marron and Deanna Murino's absence and became St. John's leading scorer with three goals, two assists. Goalkeeper Ellen Conway has started five games in goal for the Red Storm and holds a 3-2-0 record thus far on the season.
Cubbage was named the BigAppleSoccer.com Player of the Week for her two-goal performance at Fordham (Sept. 7).
Up Next
St. John's will take to the road to face Cincinnati and Louisville on their respective home fields. The Red Storm will travel Cincinnati on Sept. 21, playing the Bearcats at Gettler Stadium on 7 p.m. On Sept. 23, the Red Storm will travel to Louisville to face the Cardinals at 1 p.m.
Keep up to date on all St. John's women's soccer news by following the Red Storm on Facebook and Twitter: @stj_wsoccer #stjwsoc. To be added to the St. John's women's soccer fans e-mail list send a message to duffyk@stjohns.edu with the subject: "St. John's women's soccer e-mail."
