Offense remained the problem again on Sunday as the St. John’s women’s soccer team lost 1-0 to the Pittsburgh Panthers at Founders Field in Indianola, Pa.
“Pittsburgh played very hard,” head coach Ian Stone said. “This is very disappointing after Thursday’s effort, today they deserved to win.”
The Red Storm’s offensive struggles continued as they have only scored two goals in their last seven games. They have only netted five goals on the year and haven’t scored more than one goal in any game. The 1-0 loss marked the sixth time the Red Storm have ended in a 1-0 final score and they moved to a 4-2 record in those games.
“We got out worked,” said Stone. “They wanted it more than us, it’s just very disappointing.”
St. John’s (4-2-4, 0-1-2 Big East) was out-shot by Pittsburgh (4-7-0, 1-2-0 Big East) 13-9 and only managed three shots on goal.
The first half was evenly matched. Pittsburgh led St. John’s 7-6 in shots. Coming out of the gate in the second half the Panthers put the pressure on the strong St. John’s defense with three corner kicks, but the Red Storm defense didn’t give an inch.
The Panthers scored their one and only goal in the in the 54th minute when sophomore midfielder Liz Carroll collected a loose ball from 25 yards out and beat St. John’s freshman goal keeper Kristin Russell in the upper left hand corner.
Russell allowed only her second goal of the season, and the first of Big East play. She had another solid game as she saved four of five shots Panther shots on goal.
The Red Storm could have been both physically and mentally exhausted after their hard-fought battle with West Virginia on Thursday.
“A let down could have definitely been the case,” Stone said. “But we have to learn to play through that.”
And even though they were playing against a team that was four games under .500 when the match started, the Red Storm weren’t able to produce anything against a seemingly inferior opponent.
“It’s a possibility we took them lightly,” Stone said. “We were playing a team that was 0-2 in the Big East coming into this game and they were fighting for their lives. They deserved to earn the victory.”
St. John’s junior C.J. Ludemann was the most active member of the Red Storm attack as she posted a team-high three shots. Ludemann leads St. John’s with 19 shots this season, nine of which have been on goal.
Stone said he plans on practicing hard this week so his Red Storm can notch their first Big East victory this season when they travel to play Villanova on Friday at 4 p.m.
