It’s over for the women’s team.
Heading into today’s showdown in the Windy city against DePaul, all St. John’s needed was a win or a draw, and their season would continue into next week’s Big East Tournament.
Unfortunately, Franny Cerny and the Blue Demons had other intentions. Cerny’s goal on the stroke of halftime off a route one long ball from goalkeeper Lauren Frasca was enough to see DePaul prevail 1-0.
DePaul controlled most of the game’s attacking moves, outshooting the Johnnies 16-13 and earning five corner kicks to the Red Storm’s three.
Had St. John’s won and some other results gone their way, they could have been as high as the fourth seed in the the tournament. Showing how crowded things were in the Big East this season, a loss cost them their postseason.
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Jordan Kamp was forced into five saves in order to keep St. John’s at a one goal deficit.
Despite losing key seniors like Shea Connors, Allie Moar, and Mariela Jacome, the Head Coach Ian Stone will see a lot of familiar faces next year. The leading scorer, Christina Bellero and the leading assist-getter Lucy Whipp are both juniors set to return. Zsani Kajan (who missed last season with an injury) gave the team vital production this season and will return.
At the times of yesterday’s kickoffs, no seeds for the tournament had been determined yet, and the Big East regular season title hadn’t been awarded. The seeding is set now:
THE FIELD IS COMPLETE FOR #BIGEASTwsoc @HoyasWSoc - @ButlerWSoccer - @PC_WomensSoccer - @XavierWSOC - @DePaulWSoccer - @MUWomensSoccer https://t.co/v7CRcYDlKM
— BIG EAST Conference (@BIGEAST) October 26, 2017
Men’s home soccer finale on Saturday
Switching gears to the men’s team, a huge come from behind win last night against Villanova sees the Johnnies in a good position heading into the home stretch. They currently sit in third place with 13 points, three behind Georgetown and five behind conference leading Butler.
Saturday’s home showdown with the Hoyas is a must-win. If St. John’s wins their last two games, and Butler and Georgetown lose out, the Johnnies could win the Big East regular season title. However, if the team falters, they could see themselves miss out on tournament play.
St. John’s striker Filipo Ricupati turned the tide around Wednesday night with a marvelous overhead kick (which made #9 on Sportscenter Top 10) to equalize - let’s take a moment to enjoy it:
Acrobatic. #SCtop10 pic.twitter.com/l6EgQ3Bw4a
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 27, 2017
After that score, Ricupati then headed in a Harry Cooksley free kick in overtime to see the team grab a crucial three points. Had the Johnnies lost, they would be in fifth place with two games left.
The team will have their hands full with Georgetown on Saturday night in Queens. The United Soccer Coaches Poll has the Hoyas ranked at number 10 with an 11-2-1 record overall. It will most likely be a low scoring affair, as it pits the conference’s two best statistical defenses against each other.
The game is set for a 7:00 p.m. kick off and can be seen on the Big East Digital Network.