By Dylan Butler
They’ve opened some eyes locally with their impressive start and now the St. John’s women’s soccer team has garnered conference notice, beating Providence and Syracuse on the road this weekend to open its Big East schedule.
The Red Storm (5-0-3), off to its best start in program history, received its highest regional ranking ever with St. John’s fourth behind Connecticut, Boston College and Hartford in the Northeast Region.
What was maybe most impressive about the wins over Providence and Syracuse was that the Red Storm did so without its starting keeper, Tina Fogg, who missed the weekend with a partially torn ligament in her foot.
“It’s amazing, we just find ways to win,” said St. John’s coach Ian Stone. “The longer the game goes on, the more we believe we’re going to win, whether we’re down a goal or we’re winning.”
Another good sign for Stone is that his team received scoring from someone other than freshman sensation Kaitlin Schmidt or Dominica Reina, who accounted for 14 of the Red Storm’s first 15 goals.
Against Providence, in freshman goalkeeper Tracey Rollings’ first collegiate start, junior defender Courtney Rett was the star. Not only did Rett anchor the defense, she also scored her first career goal and added an assist in St. John’s come from behind 2-1 win at Providence Friday.
Claudia Rubino netted her second of the year to ice the win for the undefeated Red Storm.
Rollings recorded her first career shutout Sunday, making three saves in the Red Storm’s 2-0 win at Syracuse Sunday while Joanna Dawson and Reina scored for St. John’s.
“It’s nice that it’s coming from different places on the field,” Stone said of his team’s goal scoring.
With regional and Big East recognition behind them, St. John’s is now looking to gain some national attention. And the Red Storm can take a big step forward with a positive result against No. 12 UConn (7-1-1) Wednesday in its first game at Belson Stadium.
“It’s been an enjoyable journey; you never know how good you are until you beat the better teams,” Stone said. “This is a huge test for us, but I think we can handle it. The biggest question is, ‘do we think we can beat them?’ We’ve played so hard and so well, I’d give us a chance.”
St. Joseph’s College 2, Queens College 1. Former Bayside standout Hazel Alvarado netted the lone goal for Queens (1-1) Saturday in Patchogue.
Men’s Soccer
York College 1, NYC Tech 0. Mercot Henlon’s second goal of the year, a shot from 15 yards out in overtime, sealed the win for the Cardinals Saturday. Damion Bhoorasingh made 14 saves for York (2-1-1, 1-0-1 CUNY) while NYC Tech dropped to 1-3, 1-1.
York women take Cross Country crown
Kenya Benjamin paced York to a first-place finish at the York College Invitational Sunday in Van Cortlandt Park, winning the race in 23:03. Latisha Hutchinson placed ninth in 30:53 for second place New York City Tech, which was two points behind the Cardinals.
Top 10 finish for SJU track teams at National Catholic Championship
The St. John’s men’s track and field team placed eighth with 246 points and the women’s team finished 10th at the National Catholic Championship in South Bend, Ind. Saturday.
Marc Crosswell finished 15th in 26:27 in the cross country race and Brendan Sullivan placed 18th in 26:30.
Women’s volleyball
Queens College 30-30-30, Molloy College 13-15-18. Noelia Castillo had 12 kills and 25 assists and Cassidy Mariano added 12 kills and 16 assists for Queens (4-2, 2-0 New York Collegiate Athletic Conference) Monday.
York 30-30-30, Brooklyn College 5-22-20. Jasmine Ryan had two kills and four assists for Brooklyn (0-3, 0-2 CUNY) in Monday’s loss.
St. John’s 28-30-30-30, Penn 30-20-25-20. Jackie Ahlers had 21 kills for the Red Storm and earned All-tournament honors as St. John’s (9-6) split its final two matches of the Penn Tournament at the Palestra in Philadelphia Friday.
Despite 15 kills and seven digs from Sarah McCrary, 40 assists from Robyn Kurasaki and 10 kills and 15 digs from Ahlers, St. John’s fell to Fordham, 30-25, 31-29, 30-19 in the afternoon.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
