St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
No. 17 Georgetown
St. John’s Welcomes No. 17 Georgetown for BIG EAST Opener
9/20/2023 3:56:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Red Storm is coming off a 4-3 comeback win over Harvard on Sunday
QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's women's soccer team will host No. 17 Georgetown in a pivotal BIG EAST opener on Thursday night at 7 p.m.
The showdown will be streamed on the BIG EAST Digital Network on FloSports with John Fanta on the call from Belson Stadium.
The first 150 students at tomorrow night's match will receive a St. John's soccer scarf, courtesy of RedZone.
The Red Storm are coming off a dramatic comeback win over Harvard on Sunday afternoon, 4-3. St. John's completed the largest comeback in under five minutes by a NCAA Division I soccer program this season, when it scored three goals in 4:55 to take the lead, 3-2, at the end of the first half. The Crimson equalized just 50 seconds into the second frame before Lauryn Tran provided the game-winner in the 62nd minute on a historic assist from Jessica Garziano.
With her sixth helper of the 2023 campaign and 28th of her career, Garziano became the program's all-time leader in assists. The graduate student surpassed Jamie Clark, who held the mark for 23 years after tallying 27 helpers from 1997-2000.
The attacking midfielder has been on a tear for the Red Storm leading the team in goals (5), assists (6), points (16), shots (25) and shots on target (10). In Sunday's win, the captain logged five points (two goals and one assist), the most by a Johnnie this season, to fuel the comeback victory. The following day, Garziano was named the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week and leads the conference in assists and points. She was named to the TopDrawer Soccer National Team of the Week on Tuesday.
The Johnnies' attacking presence has been potent as of late, tallying 10 goals over their last four matches. Ian Stone's squad currently ranks atop the league in goals per game (2.12), assists per game (2.62) and points per game (6.88).
Aside from Garziano, Lauryn Tran has provided a significant offensive boost for the Red Storm. The junior midfielder ranks second on the team in goals (3), assists (4) and points (10).
The Red Storm completed non-conference play with a 5-1-2 record and will turn its focus to conference play starting with the three-time defending league champions, Georgetown.
The nationally-ranked Hoyas come to Queens after suffering its first loss of the season and only their fifth defeat since 2019 on Thursday at Princeton, 3-2. Georgetown currently holds a 4-1-3 mark this season in out-of-league competition.
The Hoyas boast a stout defensive unit led by 2022 First Team All-American Julia Leas and last year's BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year Allie Augur, who currently ranks top-5 nationally in goals against average (.200) and save percentage (92.9 percent).
Georgetown leads the all-time series 16-6-3 and has won the last four contests by the same scoreline, 1-0. St. John's last result against its conference foe came on Oct. 6, 2016, a 0-0 draw in Queens. The last Johnnies victory occurred on Oct. 16, 2014, a 1-0 triumph against then-No. 25 Georgetown.
After Thursday's match will close a four-match homestand, the Red Storm will head to UConn for its first conference road test of the year on Sept. 24. The match from Morrone Stadium in Storrs, Conn., is slated to kick-off at 1 p.m.
