Red Storm Travels to Xavier for Sunday Matinee

Unbeaten in its last four outings, the St. John's women's soccer team will look to keep their streak alive on Sunday, traveling to Cincinnati for an afternoon contest with Xavier at 1 p.m.

The game will be broadcast on the BIG EAST Digital Network with Mike Schmaltz on the call from XU Soccer Complex.

With two contests remaining in the regular season, the Musketeers (10-6-1, 4-2-1) and the Red Storm (8-7-1, 4-2-1) enter the weekend in a tie for third, respectively, in the BIG EAST women's soccer standings. The winner of Sunday's match guarantees a home match in the postseason, whether it's a semifinal should Butler slip up, or a first round game should the Bulldogs pick up one more win.

The Red Storm enters play on the heels of a stellar comeback that saw the Johnnies top Villanova, 3-2, in an overtime victory. Christina Bellero led the host team on an immense comeback to stun the Wildcats at Belson Stadium Thursday night. Villanova recorded goals in the 17th and 58th minutes to lead 2-0 at the intermission before St. John's rallied to equalize the match in the second stanza, forcing the contest into overtime.

Bellero scored her first of two goals in the 61st minute to cut the deficit in half. The Melville, N.Y., native then assisted on Lucy Whipp's game-tying goal in the 88th. In the 99th minute, Bellero registered the golden goal to seal the thrilling comeback victory. The multi-goal effort from Bellero marked her second of the 2018 campaign.

Bellero has now registered at least one point in back-to-back contests and six times overall on the season. Entering the weekend, the senior ranks inside the top-10 in the conference in goals (5), assists (4) and points (14).

Seniors Samie Scaffidi and Mecara Bruce, also added helpers in the Red Storm's thrilling comeback. The assist from Bruce marked the first point of the defender's career, while Scaffidi now has six helpers on the season to sit in a three-way tie for second in the conference.
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St. John's will look to defeat Xavier for the sixth-straight season, having topped the Musketeers every year since they joined the BIG EAST conference prior to the 2013 season. Most recently, the Johnnies recorded a 1-0 double overtime win over the Musketeers last October off a Xavier own goal.

The Musketeers enter Sunday's contest following a 3-0 shutout victory over Seton Hall on Thursday evening for the team's 10th win of the season. The victory marked Xavier's first time hitting the 10-win mark in 15 years.

Xavier can attribute a great deal of their offensive success to redshirt junior Samantha Dewey who paces the Musketeers with a team-high eight goals and six assists for a total 22 points over the course of the 2018 season. As a whole, Xavier's offense is second in the BIG EAST in shots and goals. Goalkeeper Toni Bizzarro has played 15 matches between the pipes, making 71 saves and has compiled a goals against average of 0.89, which ranks fourth in the conference.
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Players Mentioned

Christina Bellero

Mecara Bruce

Samie Scaffidi

Lucy Whipp

St. John's University Athletics