November 09, 2009
In a
season filled with milestones, the 2009 St. John's
women's soccer team has made history once again, as it earned
its first-ever NCAA Tournament bid in the program's 23rd year of
existence. The Red
Storm will face Virginia at 5 p.m. on Friday at Jeffrey Field
on the campus of Penn State.
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"I can't even express how excited I am for the girls," head coach
Ian Stone said. "They have worked so hard to get here. The team
really came together and persevered through some tough games for
wins. We are going to work extremely hard in practice all week to
get ready for this."
The Red Storm and the Cavaliers meet for the first time in history
on Friday. St. John's enters the contest with a 13-6-1 overall
record, while Virginia has a 9-5-5 slate in 2009. With a victory on
Friday, the Red Storm would face the winner of the Penn
State-Colgate game on Sunday. Penn State (12-5-2) is the No. 4 seed
in the UCLA Region. STJ has never faced the Nittany Lions, while
Colgate (11-6-3) won the only meeting in history with the Red
Storm, 4-1, on Sept. 9, 2005.
St. John's is one of seven BIG EAST teams to make the field of 64,
which includes Rutgers, West Virginia, Marquette, Notre Dame,
Villanova and UConn. The seven bids tie for the second most in
league history.
The 2009 campaign is arguably one of the best in program history
for St. John's. The team advanced to the BIG EAST Semifinals for
only the second time ever, facing Notre Dame last Friday. The Red
Storm scored its first goal in history against the Irish in the 2-1
overtime loss, which also marked the first goal Notre Dame gave up
in a semifinal game since 2003.
The
Red Storm recorded three Top 25 victories this season, nabbing 2-1
victories over then-No. 12 USC on Aug. 30 and then-No. 12 Indiana
on Sept. 13, and posting a 1-0 win over then-No. 16 UConn on Sept.
24. The team earned its first-ever ranking in the NSCAA Top 25
Poll, eventually rising to No. 17, and earned its highest ranking
ever in the Soccer America Poll at No. 11.
St. John's tied program records with six BIG EAST wins and eight
home victories, and recorded the second most wins in a season with
13 while tying for second all-time with nine shutouts.
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