St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Ties Drexel, 2-2, in Friendly Match
8/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
QUEENS, N.Y. - The Red Storm took to the pitch at Belson Stadium on Saturday morning for a friendly exhibition against Drexel University. Most of the action came in the last 30 minutes of the game as Rachel Daly and Jesse Schaefer each scored a late goal to help the Red Storm secure a 2-2 tie against the Dragons.
The teams played a full length game with two 45 minute halves and coaches used unlimited substitutions to ensure extra playing time for all players this preseason.
St. John's remained scoreless through the first 87 minutes of play, before adding a goal from Schaefer, a member of the 2014 All-BIG EAST Rookie Team. The goal came after a corner kick left the ball sitting at the edge of the box for the Dublin, Ohio, native to drive it into the back of the net. Schaefer's goal tied the game at one a piece, as Drexel's Rachel Sharkey had scored earlier in the 71st minute.
All three Red Storm goalies, Katie DeVault, Diana Poulin and Sarah Chaides, saw action in this contest. Poulin, the BIG EAST Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year, started the game and recorded two saves. DeVault came out to start in the second half and was immediately tested when a Drexel forward slipped between two Red Storm defenders and fired a shot towards the bottom corner of the goal. DeVault made an impressive diving save to keep the game tied at zero. Chaides added another save for the trio of keepers in the overtime period.
Regardless of score, the two teams agreed to play an overtime period of two 10-minute halves. These extra 20 minutes saw a flurry of action including two goals and six total shots.
Again Drexel scored first in the overtime period on a goal from Imani Walker in the 94th minute. St. John's would not remain down for very long as MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List selection Daly added another goal to her preseason total. In the 98th minute fellow countrywoman Georgia Kearney-Perry played a beautiful ball into the box for Daly to head past Drexel's keeper.
For the remaining 12 minutes of play both teams played with a feverish pace. St. John's outshot the Dragons 4-2 in the overtime period and had several chances to take a late lead. These chances were diminished when shots missed just high or just wide. The game ended 2-2.
"Today's game was a great test for our team early in the season, especially coming off a game two days ago with little rest time in between," said Head Coach Ian Stone.
The Red Storm Women's Soccer team will be back on the pitch for the official start of their season on Friday, Aug. 21. They take on Stony Brook at 7 p.m. at LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook, N.Y.
