St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Yale
St. John's Drops Yale, 2-0, in New Haven
9/2/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Led by goals from Samie Scaffidi and Claudia Cagnina, the St. John's women's soccer team continued its undefeated 2016 campaign with a 2-0 defeat of Yale on Friday night at Reese Stadium.
"This was a very solid whole-team performance against a talented Yale squad," said Head Coach Ian Stone. "The girls have worked tremendously hard in practice this week and it showed tonight."
Diana Poulin proved spectacular in net once again for the Red Storm (3-0-2), notching her NCAA-leading fourth shutout of the season. The two-time reigning BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year recorded two saves for the Red Storm, who defensive unit allowed only seven shots in total on the evening. Poulin now has 24 clean sheets for her career, good enough for second in school history behind Kristin Russell (2008-11) and only eight shutouts away from tying for the top spot on that list.
Shea Connors, a native of New Haven, assisted on both of the Red Storm's goals in her homecoming. Christina Bellero also added a helper for St. John's.
The Johnnies hit the net at an incredibly efficient rate on Friday, as nine of their 13 shots were on target.
The Red Storm found the back of the net in just the seventh minute, as Scaffidi recorded her second goal of the season on an impressive strike from distance. The play began with a Connors cross from the right side that bounced around in the box before finding the foot of Bellero. The sophomore from Melville, N.Y., played it outside the 18 to Scaffidi, who blasted it from 20 yards off the left post and in.
Alexa Dolgos nearly put the Red Storm up by a pair just before the intermission, as she chipped a shot just over the cross bar in the 45th minute.
The Johnnies got on the board once again in the 66th minute, as Cagnina registered her first goal of the season and the second of her St. John's career. Connors began the action once again, firing a shot from the right side off the cross bar that found Cagnina on the rebound. Cagnina's initial attempt was blocked, but the Lindenhurst, N.Y., native persisted and buried the second chance to give the Red Storm a 2-0 lead.
St. John's will have a quick turnaround before its next contest, welcoming Fairfield to Belson Stadium on Sunday night for a 7:30 p.m. kick-off.
