Kajan’s Hat Trick Lifts St. John’s Past Stony Brook, 5-1

Sunday, September 2

Queens, N.Y. (Belson Stadium)

7:00 PM

St. John's University

3-3

Stony Brook

2-4

Stony Brook

St.John's

Kajan’s Hat Trick Lifts St. John’s Past Stony Brook, 5-1

9/2/2018 11:01:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Claudia Cagnina dishes out three assists in Red Storm victory

By: Victoria Lanza

QUEENS, N.Y. (Sept. 2, 2018) – Redshirt sophomore Zsani Kajan recorded the first hat trick of her collegiate career on Sunday, powering St. John's to a 5-1 win over Stony Brook.

Kajan's hat trick marked the first such effort by a St. John's player since Oct. 11, 2015, when Rachel Daly scored three times in a 4-0 win over Creighton at Belson Stadium.

Lucy Whipp and Samie Scaffidi scored the other two goals for St. John's. Whipp's game winner in the 49th minute was her third tally of the campaign, setting a new season-long career high for the senior. Less than seven minutes later, Scaffidi notched her first goal of 2018 to give St. John's a 3-1 advantage.

Claudia Cagnina registered a career-high three assists on the evening, just one off the program record set by Jennifer Contesini in 1995 and again by Marissa Stork in 1999. Cagnina's trio of assists mark the first three-assist match since 2008, the first year for which game-by-game records were readily available. Christina Bellero also picked up an assist for the Red Storm.

Jordan Kamp picked up her first win of the year in goal for St. John's, making a pair of stops in the process.

The five goals against the Seawolves marked the first time the Johnnies have recorded five tallies in a single match since Sept. 4, 2016 when the Red Storm beat Fairfield, 5-1. St. John's is now 3-0-0 inside the friendly confines of Belson Stadium this year and has outscored opponents 11-2 in those three matches.

Stony Brook was quick to get on the board, registering the game's opening goal near the three-minute mark to take an early 1-0 lead.

In the 24th minute, Cagnina connected with Kajan who beat out the Seawolves keeper, sending a beautiful shot to the open net and knotting the game at one.

Just four minutes into the second half, Whipp put the Red Storm up, 2-1 with a shot to the bottom left corner of the cage off a pass from Cagnina, her second assist of the evening.

That lit a fire within for the Red Storm, who dominated the possession for the remainder of the match. Less than six minutes later, Scaffidi delivered a stellar effort as she placed a perfect ball into the top of the cage to extend the Johnnies lead, 3-1.

In the 67th minute, St. John's added another insurance tally, as Cagnina and Kajan connected for the second time on the evening. Kajan beat out the Seawolves defender to find the open net and give the Red Storm a 4-1 advantage.

Ten minutes later, Kajan cemented her first career hat trick off a pass inside from Bellero. Kajan took the shot off of her right foot for her third goal of the evening and sixth of the season. With that, the Budapest, Hungary, native has tripled her goal total from the 2017 campaign.

St. John's dominated the Seawolves statistically, claiming a 12-4 advantage in shots. Of the Red Storm's 12 tries, eight were on target

St. John's will return to the pitch on Friday evening, as the Johnnies travel to California for a contest with Long Beach State. First kick is scheduled for 10 p.m. ET.