St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Kicks Off Season at Stony Brook Friday
8/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
QUEENS, N.Y. - With a team full of returning talent and promising youngsters, the St. John's Red Storm will kick off its 2015 regular season on Friday night, traveling to Stony Brook, N.Y. for a 7 p.m. match with the Seawolves.
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Last Thursday morning, the Red Storm pulled in the biggest haul of preseason conference awards and recognition in program history. St. John's swept the three major individual awards, as Georgia Kearney-Perry was named the BIG EAST Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, Diana Poulin earned BIG EAST Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year honors and Rachel Daly shared BIG EAST Preseason Co-Offensive Player of the Year accolades with Catherine Zimmerman of Providence. In addition, the Red Storm tied for first with DePaul in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches Poll, the first time in program history that St. John's has earned such an honor.
For the second straight season, senior forward Rachel Daly has found herself on the Watch List for the MAC Hermann Trophy, the most prestigious individual award in all of college soccer. One of 28 selections to the list, Daly led the nation in goals her sophomore year with 23. In addition, Daly is also within striking distance of several career St. John's records despite having only played two seasons in Queens. She currently ranks third in both goals and points, while being just nine shots away from tying the Red Storm career mark of 192.
Last season, the Red Storm recorded its best BIG EAST record in program history thanks in large part to its stringent defensive unit. In nine BIG EAST conference matches, the Red Storm allowed just six total goals, good enough for a goals against average of 0.65. At season's end, Diana Poulin and Georgia Kearney-Perry were named the BIG EAST Goalkeeper and BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, respectively. The Red Storm returns three of its four starters from a year ago on the back line and adds even more depth at the position with its incoming freshman class.
SCOUTING STONY BROOK
Coming off a 5-10-2 campaign in 2014, the Seawolves are looking to climb back in the upper half of the America East standings after finishing seventh a year ago.
The Seawolves were picked to finish sixth in the America East Preseason Coaches Poll this season. The America East does not sponsor preseason all-conference teams.
Stony Brook returns a first-team all-conference pick from 2014 in senior midfielder Tessa Devereaux, who tied for the conference lead with seven assists.
The Seawovles will seek to replace their starting goaltender from last year, Ashley Castanio, who played all but 10 minutes of Stony Brook's 2014 campaign.
RED STORM VS. STONY BROOK --THE SERIES
The Red Storm and the Seawolves enjoy a long series history dating back to the first season of St. John's Women's Soccer in 1987. That year, Stony Brook upended St. John's by a score of 7-0, but the Red Storm has since rebounded to take an 11-7-3 advantage in the series history.
In the last 15 meetings between the two programs, the Red Storm is 11-3-1.
Last season, Shea Connors scored her second collegiate goal in the 78th minute to lift St. John's to a 1-0 win over Stony Brook at Belson Stadium on Sept. 18.
