The St. John’s women’s soccer team remained unbeaten in conference play with a win over Villanova, 1-0, on the road this past Sunday. Senior Caitlyn McLaughlin scored her second goal of the season in the 70th minute to give the Johnnies the only goal of the match.
This huge road win marked their best start ever in Big East play going 4-0-1. The Red Storm (8-5-1, 4-0-1) is now tied atop the conference standings.
Head coach Ian Stone knows his lady’s are playing tremendous and he would love for his team to continue it’s success in conference play, “Grinding out results like this one on the road is huge. We want to not only qualify for the Big East Tournament but to garner the highest possible seed.”
The match was all even at the half, with the shot total tied at five, but the Johnnies didn’t panic. “We just stayed patient and believed that we would find a way to score somehow,” Coach Stone said. That chance was in the 70th minute as Rachel Daly was able to put a fantastic cross right at the feet of McLaughlin. Daly was a critical playmaker all afternoon for the Johnnies and that resulted in her first assist of the season.
Sophomore goalie Diana Poulin recorded five saves in the match and St. John’s continues to prove that their defense is tough to score on. The Johnnies have only given up a total of two goals in the last five games and they haven’t allowed more than two goals in a single game this entire season.
The defensive performance was particularly impressive because senior Chelsey Martino was injured and was unable to play in the match. She started every game for the team prior to the matchup against the Wildcats.
St. John’s was able to control the time of possession for the majority of the game and they outshot the Wildcats, 12-9. They also were able create many chances off corner kicks as they recorded five to Villanova’s one.
Following the road win, Caitlyn McLaughlin and Diana Poulin were named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll. This was Poulin’s second weekly honor of the season.
With four games remaining in the regular season and a chance to finish in first place, the Johnnies have a critical matchup at 7 p.m. on Thursday night at home vs. the Georgetown Hoyas. A win could put them atop the Big East depending on DePaul’s result during the week.
