St. John’s soccer: Women’s team routs Albany in season opener

St. John’s soccer team kicks off the 2021 spring season with a commanding win over Albany. 

The St. John’s soccer team got off to a stellar of its unprecedented spring season with a blitzing of  Albany by a score of 6-1 in Belson Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

The six goals scored were the most the Red Storm have scored since they hit nine against Robert Morris way back on September 3, 2000.

Not bad for a team that hasn’t played a competitive game in nearly 500 days.

The afternoon was summed up by impressive debut performances from the new kids on the block as freshmen Ava Collins and Nicole Gordon played huge roles in the Red Storm’s offensive explosion.

Collins finished with a goal and two assists and Gordon got two assists of her own.

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Collins, a 5-foot-10 midfielder, nearly opened up the scoring early on with a header off the crossbar in just the eighth minute along with a shot saved by Albany’s Andrea Leitner in the 28th minute.

The New Zealand native was a thorn in Albany’s side the entire day as she assisted on the Red Storm’s first two goals which were scored by sophomore Jessica Garziano and senior Maia Cabrera. 

The Red Storm continued to dominate in the first half as junior defender Brooke Boyd would make it a 3-0 game in the 41st minute after she redirected a Nicole Gordon header.

St. John’s would head into the half with a comfortable 3-0 lead, but in the 64th minute, Albany would prevent the clean sheet on a goal by midfielder Olivia Piraino.

Then, it would be all Red Storm from that point on as red-shirt sophomore forward Addison Hornsey would respond just two minutes later off of a cross from Gordon to make it 4-1.

St. John’s soccer ready to continue impressive showing

Of course, it’s not an offensive explosion without the Reigning and Preseason Big East Player of the Year Zsani Kajan getting in on the action with a close-range shot in the 76th minute off a feed from Garziano to open her account after getting 11 goals in 17 games in 2019.

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To round it all out, Ava Collins had to get one of her own after an impressive performance and she did just that in the 86th minute.

After its impressive offensive showing and a great start to the season, the Red Storm will next take on Sacred Heart on February 25th at 3:00pm EST in Belson Stadium.