The St. John’s women’s soccer team lost 2-1 to No. 7/13 Marquette Friday night at Belson Stadium.
Coming off a disappointing 6-1 loss on the road at Pitt, the Red Storm bounced back to be competitive while playing one of the best teams in the Big East.
“We bounced back really well”, said head coach Ian Stone. “We executed our game plan, and we’re getting closer and closer to where we want to be, but we’re not there yet.”
Marquette, riding a six-game winning streak, came out strong.
The Red Storm spent most of the first half responding to Marquette’s attacks instead of attacking themselves. The taller, more athletic Golden Eagles took advantage.
On nine first half shots, Marquette sophomore midfielder Taylor Madigan scored on an assist from sophomore Megan Kelly.
Madigan headed a corner kick into the upper left corner of the goal and past sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Ferris. Ferris had two saves in the half.
Marquette is 13-0-0 when scoring first in a game, and 10-0-0 when taking the lead into halftime.
The Marquette defense, led by 2010 Big East Defensive Player of the Year Kerry McBride and 2010 Big East Goalkeeper of the Year Natalie Kulla, held a shutout in the first half. St. John’s took zero shots.
Their defense kept the Red Storm from getting the ball up the field, and slowed down any potential offensive attacks immediately, to keep St. John’s on the defensive.
The second half saw a more energetic St. John’s.
“We came out with more energy and wanted it more and that’s why we played better in the second half”, said McLaughlin.
The Red Storm changed formation to allow for a more aggressive offensive attack, and it proved to make a big difference.
The Red Storm kept possession of the ball much longer, which led to more chances
But this did not stop Marquette. In the 75th minute, Marquette sophomore forward Cara Jacobson scored her fourth goal of the year.
Her shot into the bottom of the net came after a shot by freshman forward Mady Vicker was saved by Ferris but bounced off of her body and back into play.
St. John’s was not done though.
Freshman Caitlin McLaughlin scored her second goal of the season off a cross by junior Runa Stefansdottir in the 80th minute to score the lone goal for the Red Storm (8-7-1, 4-5-0 Big East) on Alumni Day.
“I tried not to be offside”, said McLaughlin. “I was in the right place at the right time, and Runa gave me a great pass and I knocked it in.”
This scene was nothing new for the Red Storm. In the four games prior, Stefansdottir had set up three goals with similar crosses. One of those was to McLauglin, when she scored the first goal of her career versus Georgetown.
But it wasn’t enough, as St. John’s was unable to get a shot off in the last five minutes.
During halftime of the game, St. John’s honored Jen Contesini (1993-1997), a member of Coach Stone’s inaugural season and his 1994 Big East Championship team.
