St. John’s (2-6-4, 0-3-2 Big East) fell at the hands of No. 15 Georgetown (9-2-2, 5-0-0 Big East) by the final score of 4-0. The 15-ranked team in the nation dominated against a deflated Red Storm squad.
Vibes were high pregame at Belson Stadium, as members of the 2015 Big East regular season championship team were honored. A ceremony was held at mid-field to commemorate that team’s accomplishments from a decade ago.
St. John’s came into the contest still searching for their elusive first conference win. It was not going to be an easy task, especially because of the absence of senior midfielder Emily Riggins.
Riggins was injured during the Red Storm’s previous match against Marquette and was forced to sit out against No. 15 Georgetown.
Riggins is the defensive anchor for the Red Storm. Without her presence on the pitch, St. John’s faced a steep hill to climb.
Meanwhile, Georgetown has steamrolled the Big East so far this season and secured a top-15 ranking in the United Soccer Coaches Poll last week. In their first four Big East conference games, the Hoyas had outscored the opposition 13-1.
St. John’s was completely outplayed from the opening whistle. Georgetown constantly created chances to find the back of the net all night long. Even when they had gained the lead, Georgetown was relentless.
Approximately 11 minutes into the first half, the Red Storm defense granted the Hoyas a penalty kick. Georgetown gaffer Dave Nolan sent senior Henley Tippins to the stripe and she delivered with a right-footed right-side strike into the back of the net.
A few minutes later, St. John’s missed their only big chance at a goal all night. A beautiful cross was whipped into the box, but the attackers waiting in the middle failed to finish.
Georgetown quickly countered and drew another penalty inside the box. This time it was senior Natalie Means who stepped up for the penalty opportunity. Means barely snuck her shot by Red Storm goalkeeper Kayla Bower to extend the Hoya lead to 2-0.
Despite the 4-0 result, Bower was not at fault. She tallied eight saves on the night, further showcasing the exceptional senior season she has been putting together. Bower remained restless all night with the Hoyas applying constant pressure around the net.
The first few minutes of the second half were the best of the night for St. John’s. The Red Storm emerged with fresh legs, on the attack and finally applying pressure to the Hoya defense.
However, this newfound life was short-lived, as within minutes, Georgetown was back to dominating possession. The Hoyas were able to get any look at the net they wanted.
St. John’s defense had a major breakdown when Means whipped a perfect cross into a wide open Maja Lardner. The graduate student from Dallas, Texas waltzed right in front of the net completely unmarked and tapped in the third Hoya goal of the night.
Despite the comfortable lead that Georgetown had, they kept applying pressure on St. John’s. A fourth goal was scored by Tippins. It was Tippins’ second goal of the contest, as she had a beautiful looking turn and fired into the back of the net.
With seven minutes to go in the match, St. John’s finally registered their first shot on goal. The Red Storm offense only began to show signs of life when the Hoyas’ substituted on the bench and brought in their second-string goalkeeper.
It was an ugly result on Saturday night for St. John’s. The Red Storm fell to 2-6-4 overall and 0-3-2 in Big East play. St. John’s has not won a game since Aug. 31, a 2-1 victory over Youngstown State, marking five weeks of either losses or draws.
A game like this can provide a key teaching moment for head coach Ian Stone and his staff. This St. John’s squad is young and lacks experience. There are a lot of underclassmen on this team who can learn from a result like this and grow from it. It was a tough matchup against a much older Georgetown team with significant experience on their side.
Luckily, St. John’s has a great chance to regroup with no mid-week game scheduled, and come ready to play on Oct. 11 at home against the 2-2-0 Villanova Wildcats.
