St. John’s soccer update: Men draw, Women fall

A weather-shortened game in Omaha saw the St. John’s men’s soccer team draw 2-2 with Creighton on Friday night, while the women’s team fell 1-0 to Big East powerhouse Butler on the road on Sunday.

The men’s team saw Harry Cooksley come back from injury with a bang, scoring two second half goals just 10 minutes apart. Cooksley’s second goal put the Johnnies up 2-1 before Creighton would equalize just three minutes after.

Creighton scored one goal in each half, including one from the penalty spot. The Blue Jays danger man Ricky Lopez-Espin tapped in his sixth goal of the year to give the Jays a 1-0 lead.

St. John’s pulled even on a penalty kick after midfielder Matt Forster was fould in the box. Cooksley nailed the penalty kick off of Creighton goalkeeper Collin Valdivia’s hand.

The Red Storm’s second tally came just 4 minutes after a wild sequence that saw Johnnies’ midfielder Matt Forster’s would be go-ahead goal disallowed for offsides, only to be followed by St. John’s midfielder Mauricio Rivas being shown a red card for a dangerous tackle.

Johnnies freshman Jack Shearer continued his dominant run of form. Just three minutes after that sequence, Shearer beat his man before playing in a cross that Cooksley tapped in with the outside of his right boot. Shearer now has a team-high three assists. The Pennsylvania native has been a key presence in the Johnnies resurgence in the middle of the season.

After seeing the Red Storm come back, Creighton redshirt freshman midfielder Connor Ramlo headed home a cross to see the two teams share the spoils before a sizable lightning delay in the 81st minute halted the action for the night.

St. John’s now moves to 5-4-2, and 2-1-1 in Big East play. The team’s draw on the road is a valuable point against the Blue Jays. The Nebraska school ranked number 16 in the first RPI poll released last week by the NCAA.

The Johnnies travel to Jersey tomorrow night for a non-conference match with Princeton at 7:00 PM.

On Sunday, it was a familiar story for the St. John’s women’s team in Indianapolis: a one goal loss. All eight of the team’s losses have been by one goal.

Butler forward Paige Monaghan’s fifth goal of the year late in the first half was enough to see Butler improve to 10-3-1 on the year and 3-0-2 in the Big East. The Johnnies offense faced a tough task, as going into the game, Butler led the nation in save percentage, goals against average and shutout percentage.

St. John’s came closest to scoring in the 38^th minute when redshirt freshman forward Zsani Kajan’s shot deflected off a Butler defender and onto the post. Mariela Jacome also had a header that made its way past the Butler goalie, only to be cleared off the line by a Bulldog defender.

The women’s team now falls to 5-8-1 on the season, and 1-4-0 in conference play.

The Johnnies have close to a week off before hosting the Pirates of Seton Hall on Saturday.

The Pirates have yet to pick up a win on the season. Currently with a record of 0-8-5, the Pirates best result of the season came on September 28 when they tied Butler at home, 0-0. The Pirates have only scored seven goals on the season, while allowing 23. However, St. John’s will need to watch out for Julia Stripe, who leads the Pirates with five points on the year.

The women’s game can be seen on the Big East Digital Network at 8:00 PM.