The St. John’s women’s soccer team opened up their Big East schedule on the road Friday night with a 0-0 double overtime draw with Syracuse.

“We possessed the ball really well out there,” head coach Ian Stone said. “We showed a level of confidence I was happy to see, especially in our first Big East game on the road.”

St. John’s freshman goalkeeper Kristin Russell continued her brilliant play posting her sixth shutout of the year. Her two big saves came in overtime as she saved a point blank header on a corner kick and kick saved the rebound from going in.

“She really doesn’t play like a freshman,” Stone said. “In her first Big East game, on the road, a lot of pressure, she really stepped up. That kick save she made on the rebound from the corner was fantastic, it was like something out of The Matrix.”

The Orange (2-3-2) out-shot the Red Storm (4-1-2) 16-11, but could never get past Russell and the stellar St. John’s defense.

St. John’s came out poised in the early part of the game and had a scoring chance in the 15th minute but freshman Jen Leaverton fired a shot over the crossbar. The freshman led the St. John’s offensive attack with four shots.

“I was impressed because we came out in the first 25 minutes and dominated a Big East opponent on the road,” Stone said. “We have been working on our goal scoring, Jen had a chance but unfortunately she didn’t finish it. Although I think it was a step in the right direction.”

Leaverton had another scoring opportunity in the 48th minute on a breakaway, but fired wide right. The other scoring chance for the Red Storm came in the second half as senior Brittany Cavarra shot on net, but Syracuse’s keeper Eliza Bennett-Hattan made the save.

“I was most impressed at how relaxed our team looked,” Stone said. “We had team meetings all this past week addressing composure, and I felt as though with displayed that.”

St. John’s continues to play outstanding defense as they have now held their opponents scoreless for the past 310 minutes of play. In their seven games they have played this season, six have been shutouts and they have only allowed one goal all year long.

“The way our defense is playing sometimes we look at a game as a worst case scenario 0-0 tie,” Stone said.

With their defense and goalkeeping solid as a rock, St. John’s looks to improve on their goal scoring as they host Princeton tommorow at 1 p.m. at Belson Stadium.