St. John’s Unleashes 37 Shots; Overwhelms UAlbany, 2-0

Thursday, September 5

Queens, N.Y. (Belson Stadium)

7 p.m.

St. John's University

3-1-1, 0-0-0

UAlbany

1-4-0, 0-0-0

UAlbany

St. John's (NY)

St. John’s Unleashes 37 Shots; Overwhelms UAlbany, 2-0

9/5/2024 10:37:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Highlights

Levy and Riggins tally goals as the Red Storm remain undefeated at home

QUEENS, N.Y. – The St. John's women's soccer team overwhelmed UAlbany with 37 shots in a 2-0 victory at Belson Stadium on Thursday night.

The Red Storm's (3-1-1) shot total was the program's highest in at least 16 years and ranks top-20 in the country this season. The 37-shot effort is the second most by a BIG EAST team this season trailing Georgetown, who had 41 against Quinnipiac. The Johnnies allowed only two shots, outshooting the Great Danes (1-4) by 35.

Jordyn Levy scored her second consecutive game-winner and recorded a career-high seven shots. Emily Riggins doubled the lead with a world-class strike in the second half for the first goal of her career.

Freshman Janelle Sylvestre was magnificent on Thursday night logging a pair of assists. The Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada native fired six shots in addition to tallying her first two collegiate points in just 40 minutes. The midfielder becomes the first freshman since Ava Collins on Feb. 21, 2021 to register a multi-assist game.

Kayla Bower made her first career start in net for the Johnnies. The junior made her third career appearance and first in 672 days, when she subbed on during the BIG EAST Tournament Semifinals against Xavier on Nov. 3, 2022. Malene Nielsen played the latter half of the game as the Red Storm combined for its second-straight and third clean sheet of the season.

13 different players recorded a strike in the offensive onslaught. In addition to Levy and Sylvestre, Nora Basile (5), Jailene DeJesus (3), Mia Agresti (3), Lauryn Tran (2), Hope Van Tuyle, (2), Madison Mariani (2), Reese Dunaway (2) and Riggins put forth multi-shot efforts.

With the win, the Red Storm move to 3-0 at Belson Stadium. The Johnnies in three games in Queens are averaging 25.3 shots per contest. St. John's tallied a season-high 13 shots on target.

UAlbany goaltender Emily Dorfman logged eight stops while the Great Danes' defense made three team saves.

The Johnnies wasted no time looking for goals as Levy had a header on frame off a Sofroniou corner kick in the 13^th minute steering one towards the net that was caught by Dorfman.

The opportunities just kept coming along and the Johnnies finally got on the board in the 31^st minute. Sylvestre came streaking down the left flank and at the brink of the end line played a grounded cross into Levy, who chipped one past the keeper for the game-opening goal, 1-0. The senior forward leads the team with three goals and 16 shots on the season.

In the second half, the shots continued to pile up for St. John's. Sylvestre had the first glaring opportunity of the final 45 minutes. The freshman fired one toward the near post but a sliding kick save from Dorfman kept it out.

In the 63^rd minute, Sylvestre slid a pass to Emily Riggins, who made a cutback dusting the UAlbany defender, the junior captain launched a missile from 20 yards out into the top left corner of the net to double the St. John's advantage, 2-0.

The squad didn't stop there as Athina Sofroniou powered a strike towards the left corner of the net that was halted by a Great Danes defender. The rebound bounced to Freya Meadows-Tuson, who took a try on net but the curving strike from inside the six-yard box was again stopped on the goal line by the UAlbany backline in the 71^st minute.

Agresti had the final promising chance in the 86^th minute. The junior midfielder delivered a strike that forced Dorfman to make a diving save.

With the win, St. John's to 4-0 all-time against UAlbany and have outshot the Great Danes 48-10 over the last two meetings.

The homestand continues on Sunday when St. John's welcomes Monmouth at 1 p.m. Come out to Belson Stadium to celebrate Johnny Thunderbird's 15^th Birthday.