St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Villanova
St. John's Holds Off Villanova, 2-1
10/19/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
VILLANOVA, Pa. - Playing on the road for the second-to-last time during the 2017 regular season, the St. John's women's soccer team picked up an important 2-1 victory over Villanova at Higgins Soccer Complex Thursday evening. The Red Storm used a pair of second-half goals and a strong defensive effort late to earn the win as the team enters the home stretch of the regular season.
With the victory, the Red Storm improved to 7-8-1 overall and 3-4-0 in BIG EAST battles, while the Wildcats fell to 6-10-0 overall and 2-5-0 in league matches.
Junior Christina Bellero kicked off the scoring with her team-leading seventh goal of the season in the 47th minute. The Melville, N.Y., native has now scored in back-to-back games after netting the game-winner against Seton Hall last week. Redshirt freshman Zsani Kajan scored the eventual game-winning goal in the 67th minute for her second tally of the season.
"This was a good BIG EAST road win for our program," Head Coach Ian Stone said. "I felt that we played well and executed the game plan perfectly. However, we now need to move on and prepare properly for Xavier."
Bellero paced the offense with three total shots. Kajan, Mariela Jacome and Claudia Cagnina each sent a pair of attempts towards the target. Redshirt freshman Jordan Kamp made five saves to earn her sixth win of the season.
As a team, St. John's won a season-high 11 corner kicks and held Villanova to just three. The Wildcats managed to outshoot the Red Storm by a slim 15-14 margin, but the Johnnies sent nine total shots on goal to Villanova's six.
Both teams looked to get on the board early as the Wildcats took the game's first shot in the fifth minute but the St. John's back line was there to block the shot before it got to Kamp. Later in the opening half, Bellero sent her first try high over the bar.
Midway through the first half, St. John's seemed poised to find the back of the net. After earning a corner in the 19th minute, Jacome's header was turned aside by one of the Villanova defenders for another corner. This time, Bellero's cross sailed out for a goal kick. Just over a minute later, St. John's won another corner but the Villanova defense cleared the danger.
In the 28th minute, Cagnina sent a pass from the center of the field to the left side where Bellero sent a left-footed shot just over the bar as the teams remained scoreless.
St. John's had a shot saved in the 40th minute before earning a corner kick just seconds later. On the ensuing set piece, the ball found Cagnina who sent a shot on goal but was denied by Villanova's Emily Harris.
In the 43rd minute, Madeleine Watson looked to give the Johnnies the lead heading into halftime but her try went wide as both teams entered the locker room scoreless.
St. John's outshot Villanova, 9-4, and earned six corner kicks to the Wildcats' zero over the course of the first half. Harris made five saves, while Kamp made one for the Red Storm.
The Johnnies didn't waste much time in the second half. Lucy Whipp sent a lead pass to Bellero from the middle of the field to the near side and Bellero sent a curling shot from the left just inside the right post in the 47th minute to give the Red Storm a 1-0 advantage. With seven goals on the season, Bellero has now doubled her career goal total after entering her junior year with seven goals in two seasons.
Villanova looked to respond quickly, earning a pair of corner kicks in the 51st minute, but the Red Storm defensive unit held strong to keep the Wildcats off the board.
Later in the second half with the Johnnies still leading 1-0, Kamp made a finger-tip save on a shot from Natalie Fouque to keep it a 1-0 game. In the 61st minute, Kamp came up big once again, catching a long shot from Jasmine Ruiz to keep the Johnnies in front.
Then, in the 67th minute, it was Whipp again making things happen. The junior drew three defenders at the top right corner of the box and sent a perfect pass to Kajan, who stationed herself at the top of the box in the middle of the field. With an open look at net, Kajan ripped a shot past the diving Harris to give the Red Storm a 2-0 lead.
Villanova, looking to mount a comeback, cut the lead in half just over a minute later when Bri Austin found the back of the net.
Over the final 20 minutes of play, the St. John's defense held off six Villanova shots and a corner kick to come away with the win. Through 16 games, the St. John's defensive unit has held opponents to one goal or less 13 times this season, improving its team goals against average to 0.97 on the year.
St. John's is back in action on Sunday, Oct. 22, when the Johnnies host Xavier at Belson Stadium at 1 p.m. Prior to the start of the match, St. John's will honor its graduating seniors who will be playing in their final regular season home game at Belson Stadium. Fans can catch the action live on the BIG EAST Digital Network.
