St. John’s soccer upsets Xavier in Big East semifinals

St. John’s soccer pulls off the massive upset win over Xavier in the Big East Tournament Semifinals. 

Party like its 1994 for the St. John’s soccer team as the Johnnies took down the No.1 seed Xavier Musketeers in Cincinnati in the Big East Tournament Semifinals.

The victory pushed the Red Storm to the title game for the first time since 1994.

On a freezing cold night at Corcoran Field in Ohio, St. John’s pulled off what everyone believed was the unthinkable taking down No. 11 Xavier, a team that coming into the game had won 16 of 18 games this season.

The Johnnies had lost to Xavier on the same field last month by a 1-0 scoreline, but were determined not to repeat that result.

The Musketeers utterly dominated the game from start to finish with shots 15-4 in favor of Xavier.

The formula for St. John’s, as the first half and the rest of the game went on, was to absorb some pressure and then hit Xavier on the counter-attack and it worked beautifully.

There were plenty of tense moments for the Red Storm and chances for Xavier to break through as the Johnnies’ goal was put under siege for virtually the entire night.

Naya Lipkens made the first of several massive saves in the game in the 8th minute with a diving stop to her right to keep the match scoreless.

The defense as a whole, especially Katherine Turner, was absolutely phenomenal. The junior defender from London was everywhere, snuffing out any sort of opportunity for Xavier.

As the seconSt. John’s basketball storms past Baruch in lone exhibition game
d half came around, the question was can the Johnnies just create that one opportunity they need to try and win for their forwards, especially for Zsani Kajan.

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In the 61st minute, they did just that as Ava Collins brought the ball forward on a counter-attack and slipped a pass into Kajan who finished off the shot in the box for her 17th goal of the season.

The goal was the 45th of her Red Storm career and oddly enough the first goal she has scored with her right foot this season.

Late on, Xavier thought they had the equalizer in the 88th minute with a shot from the top of the box by Carrie Lewis that beat Lipkens, but the shot hit the crossbar and stayed out.

It was a heart attack moment for the Johnnies, who were ultimately able to hold on for an incredible and historic win.

St. John’s soccer readying for a historic afternoon

Thursday night felt like a David vs Goliath game for the Johnnies but Sunday afternoon will be even bigger.

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Can this St. John’s soccer team team cap off a magical run against a Georgetown Hoyas team that is making its sixth straight Big East Championship game appearance?

It will be No. 17 ranked, and No. 2 seeded, Georgetown against St. John’s in the Big East Championship on Sunday at 1:30pm EST on FoxSports1 in just the second-ever appearance in the conference title game in program history for the Red Storm.