St. John’s Soccer Recap: 10/3

The St. John’s men’s soccer team wanted to get a statement win against Creighton on Saturday, but a draw against the tenth ranked team in the nation is not too shabby. The result puts the Johnnies at 5-2-3 on the season and 1-0-2 in conference play.

Filippo Ricupati continued his goal-scoring surge, netting his fourth goal in three games. The Italian now has six on the season. He is now tied for most goals in a season for St. John’s since Nelson Becerra scored eight in 2008, a year the Red Storm went to the College Cup, NCAA’s version of the final four.

The game was scoreless after the first half, even though Creighton had outshot St. John’s 12-1 with 6 corner kicks. In the 57^th minute, the Blue Jays broke through when Ricky Lopez-Espin was able to connect from close range to give them the 1-0 lead.

The Johnnies were determined to get the equalizer, registering four shots and three corner kicks in the next 20 minutes. In the 77^th minute, Harry Cooksley was able to find space on the left side and sent a cross just outside the six-yard box to Ricupati, who knocked it in with a nifty outside heel shot. It was the sixth assist for Cooksley this season, and the fourth time he found Ricupati for the goal.

Neither team was able to do much for the rest of the game, so the final whistle blew with the score still even.

Andrew Withers had another impressive game in net for the Red Storm, registering five saves against Creighton, who had been averaging over two goals a game.

The Johnnies head to Cincinnati next for a matchup with Xavier on Saturday, October 8^th at 7 p.m.

The women were in Milwaukee on Sunday where they faced off against Marquette. They fought hard but ultimately fell to the Golden Eagles 2-0.

St. John’s had the shot advantage, outshooting Marquette 12-10, but were unable to win any corner kicks, compared to Marquette’s five.

Marquette grabbed the lead in the 22^nd minute when Morgan Proffitt took a long shot from the right side and sneaked it just past Diana Poulin in the upper left corner.

A couple of minutes later, Samie Scaffidi had a chance for the Johnnies when she re-directed a ball in the box toward the net, but it was ultimately tipped away by the Marquette goalkeeper.

At the beginning of the second half, Marquette added onto their lead when they scored off a corner kick after the Red Storm defense was unable to clear it.

Scaffidi had another chance very late in the game, but her shot was once again knocked away by the goalkeeper.

St. John’s returns to Queens this Thursday for a matchup with Georgetown. The game starts at 7 p.m. and can be seen on the Big East Digital Network.