St. John's University Athletics
No. 25 Red Storm Heads to Villanova
10/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
VILLANOVA, Pa. - After clinching a spot in the BIG EAST Tournament field on Thursday night with a win over Xavier, the RV/25 St. John's Red Storm will continue its chase for a regular season title when it heads to Villanova for a Sunday matinee with the Wildcats. The game will be broadcast live on the BIG EAST Digital Network with first kick set for 1 p.m.
FREE KICKS
With the team's win over the Musketeers, the Red Storm improved to 13-2-1 on the season, tying for the second- most wins in a single season in program history. The 2009 side won 13 games en route to the program's first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, but the best season in St. John's history came in 1994, when then-first-year Head Coach Ian Stone's squad took home 14 victories on its way to a BIG EAST Championship.
Anchored by four saves from Diana Poulin, the Red Storm registered its 11th shutout of the season against the Musketeers, setting the program record for clean sheets in a season. The 1-0 blanking marked Poulin's fifth solo shutout of the year and moved her into solo second place on the St. John's career shutouts list with 19. Kristin Russell (2008-11) sits in first place with 32.
In scoring the lone goal of Thursday evening's victory, Rachel Daly registered her eighth game-winning goal of the season, a total that is good enough for a first-place tie in the NCAA statistical rankings. For her career, Daly now has 18 game-deciding tallies in just three years.
On the season, St. John's has compiled a goals against average of 0.49, good enough for first in the BIG EAST and 11th in the nation.
SCOUTING VILLANOVA
Villanova has struggled mightily during the 2015 campaign, compiling a record of 1-15 through 16 games, including an 0-7 mark in conference.
In those 16 games, the Wildcats have registered just five goals. Amanda Vocelka leads the team in scoring with two tallies on the year.
The Wildcats have lost eight in a row heading into Sunday's match against the Red Storm and are surrendering 2.44 goals per game on average this season.
Emma Meyer and Emily Harris have split time between the pipes this season, with Meyer playing over 60 percent of the minutes in net.
ST. JOHN'S vs. VILLANOVA -- THE SERIES The Wildcats and the Red Storm have a lengthy series history dating back to 1987, the first year of St. John's Women's Soccer. Historically, the Wildcats hold a 13-6-3 advantage over their longtime conference foe.
Villanova controlled the series history in the early going, taking six out of the first seven matches played between the two squads. More recently, St. John's has had the upper hand, going undefeated in the last four matches between the two sides.
Last year, the Red Storm ended Villanova's season in the quarterfinals of the BIG EAST Tournament, as Georgia Kearney-Perry and Shelby Halasz scored in a 2-0 victory at Belson Stadium.
