St. John’s Falls to UConn, 1-0, on the Road

Thursday, March 11

Storrs, CONN. (JOSEPH J. MORRONE STADIUM AT RIZZA PERFORMANCE CENTER)

2 p.m.

St. John's University

(5-1, 2-1BE)

University of Connecticut

(3-1-1, 1-1-1BE)

SJU

UCONN

3/11/2021 5:04:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Johnnies suffer first setback of the season

By: Victoria Lanza

The St. John's women's soccer squad dropped its first game of the season on Thursday afternoon, falling to the University of Connecticut, 1-0, at Joseph J. Morrone Stadium at Rizza Performance Center.

St. John's fell to 5-1-0 (2-1-0 BIG EAST) while the Huskies improved to 3-1-1 (1-1-1 BIG EAST) on the season.

Zsani Kajan, Jessica Garziano, Isabelle Aviza and Maia Cabrera all tied for a team-high two shots on the afternoon while Nicole Gordon and Michelle Money tallied one apiece.
Despite picking up her first loss of the season, Naya Lipkens turned aside three UConn shots.

The Huskies jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the 11th minute. After firing off two early shots in the first eight minutes of action, Yamilee Eveillard converted on her third attempt for Connecticut. Jessica Mazo picked up an assist on the play, sending a pass up to Eveillard, who buried it home.

The Johnnies fired off four shots over the remainder of the half but could not find the back of the net. Shots were even, 5-5, at the intermission.

UConn continued to press after the break, taking the first two shots of the latter stanza, one of which was saved by Lipkens.

After a quiet first half for Kajan, who was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week on Monday, the Budapest, Hungary, native saw a pair of quality scoring opportunities. The first came in the 61st minute as Kajan's strike was blocked. A little over 10 minutes later, the 5-foot-7 forward rocketed a shot towards the cage, but her attempt was turned aside by UConn's goalkeeper Randi Palacios.

With their backs against the wall in the closing minutes of play, Cabrera and Aviza both sent a pair of shots on target, but could not net the equalizer.

St. John's will return to action on Sunday, as the team travels to our nation's capital for a 1 p.m. matchup with Georgetown.