St. John’s soccer suffers first home loss of the season

The St. John’s Soccer team suffered its first home loss of the season to UConn

The St. John’s soccer team lost for the first time this season at Belson Stadium in another 1-0 defeat to the UConn Huskies on Sunday.

The Red Storm fell by the same 1-0 scoreline to the Huskies in the reverse fixture back on March 11th in Storrs.

St. John’s was previously 5-0 in Queens this season before Sunday’s defeat and the loss moves the Red Storm to 5-4-1 overall (2-4-1 Big East), dealing a knockout blow to any postseason hopes.

St. John’s would have to win its final two games of the regular season and get plenty of help in order to have a glimpse of hope to jumping into 2nd place to qualify for the Big East Tournament.

Unfortunately, that looks to be too big of a mountain to climb for the Johnnies.

The Red Storm are now winless in its last five games, dating back to March 11. The last win came back on March 7 against Seton Hall after a promising 5-0 start to the season.

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Connecticut now sits at 7-2-1 overall (5-2-1 Big East) after completing its regular season sweep of the Red Storm, holding that final 2nd place spot in the East Division, which would qualify the Huskies for the postseason.

Sunday’s game started off with the Huskies dominating the possession in the first 15 minutes, pinning St. John’s back into their own half, but the Red Storm worked its way into the game as the first half progressed, ultimately getting the better chances in the half.

Freshman Ava Collins got the Red Storm’s first clear-cut chance of the game in the 16th minute with a shot from just inside the box, but it was saved by UConn’s Randi Palacios.

In the 30th minute, redshirt senior Zsani Kajan had the best chance of the first half as she received a short corner, beat her defender, and fired a shot from inside the box that was nearly spilled by Palacios but nonetheless kept out.

St. John’s soccer unable to capitalize in second half

In the second half, UConn would control the tempo once again and get some more opportunities on Jordan Kamp’s goal, who started in place of Naya Lipkins.

The Huskies would cash in on their second half chances in the 73rd minute off of a long free-kick from midfielder Melina Couzis that found the head of Sophia Danyko-Kulchycky at the back-post to nod in the game-winning goal.

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The Red Storm had a great chance to equalize in the 88th minute off of a shot from leading scorer Jessica Garziano, but Palacios saved it to preserve the win for UConn.

The Red Storm will next face off against No. 12 Georgetown at Belson Stadium on Saturday, April 3 at 2:00pm EST as the Johnnies are looking to avenge a 1-0 defeat to the Hoyas back on March 14.