St. John’s women’s soccer advances to Big East semifinals

The St. John’s women’s soccer team advanced to the Big East Tournament semifinals on Tuesday night with a 1-0 victory over Providence. It is the fifth straight win for the Johnnies and will look to continue their hot streak when they play Marquette on Friday.

Morgan Tinari scored the only goal of the game in the 84^th minute, sending the ball into a wide open net after Providence goalkeeper Krysten Shea had stopped the initial shot by Christina Bellero.

Providence had a slight possession advantage in the first half, outshooting the Johnnies 6-5, but did earn six corner kicks to the Red Storm’s one. Samie Scaffidi had one of the better chances in the first half for St. John’s, getting the ball in the box all alone but was unable to get much power on her shot using her opposite foot, and Shea stopped it easily.

In the second half, the Johnnies came out aggressively, trying to get that go-ahead goal. In the 54^th minute, Scaffidi had another chance on a breakaway with just the goalkeeper between her and the net, but Shea was able to make the save. About three minutes later, Scaffidi had yet another chance, sending a cross into the box that went off the crossbar.

Finally, in the 84^th minute, Bellero had the ball in the box and sent a shot from the left side toward the upper-right corner. Shea was able to get a hand on it, knocking the ball into the air. Fortunately for the Johnnies, Tinari was waiting for the ball to come down with the net wide open in front of her. The senior knocked it right in to give St. John’s the victory.

Diana Poulin showed why she was named Big East Goalkeeper of the Year for the third year in a row. She made three save in the match to notch her 32^nd career shutout, tying a program record. It was also her 12^th clean sheet of the season, which ties the record she set last year.

The semifinals will take place on Friday at 11:30 a.m. on the campus of Georgetown University. Marquette is the #1 seed and won the only matchup this season, 2-0 on October 2^nd in Milwaukee. The game can be streamed on the Big East Digital Network.