November 15, 2021
Behind a golden goal from Ava Collins, the St. John's women's soccer team defeated Brown, 1-0, in overtime on Saturday afternoon, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
This marks the Johnnies second ever victory in the NCAA Tournament and the team's first since 2013. That year the Red Storm defeated UCF, 3-1, advancing to the second round for the first time in program history.
With the Red Storm's (13-6-2, 6-3-1, BIG EAST) win over its Ivy League foe, the Johnnies snapped the Bears' 21-game unbeaten streak at home.
Collins' game winner, her fourth goal of the season, marked the second time this year that the New Zealand, native has powered the Johnnies to victory. Nicole Gordon, who had seven assists entering Saturday's game, picked up her eighth helper on Collins' tally.
Naya Lipkens logged her 10th solo shutout of the season. The redshirt junior turned aside a trio of Brown tries that found its target. On the year, Lipkens' goals against average has fallen to 0.84 while his save percentage has risen to .816.
The defensive trio of Katherine Turner, Nicole Multer and Shannon Aviza played all 99 minutes on the backline, coming up with crucial stops for St. John's on the afternoon.
Brown (12-4, 7-0 Ivy League) posted the first opportunity of the opening half, putting a shot on target in the 12th minute of action, but it was smothered by Lipkens.
BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year Zsani Kajan recorded the Red Storm's first look of the match in the 21st minute. Her long try was easily stopped by the Bears' goalkeeper, Kayla Thompson.
Over the next 20 minutes, Brown continued to possess in the attacking third and, in turn, was rewarded with a trio of corner kicks.
With just under five minutes to play in the early frame, Brown unleashed back-to-back attempts but were turned away by a pair of St. John's defenders. Multer and Turner, a BIG EAST All-Tournament Team selection, came up with a pair of huge stops to keep the two programs in a scoreless deadlock at the half.
Coming out of the locker room, the Johnnies turned up the heat, firing off multiple quality opportunities. The Red Storm's best look of the second half came in the 75th minute, as Gordon came just inches away from converting on the game winner. The Amityville, N.Y., native rocketed a near perfect shot towards the left side of the cage but it bounced off the post.
After 90 minutes of scoreless action, the two teams entered the overtime period. The Johnnies needed just one attempt in extra time to find the back of the net, as Collins converted on the golden goal in the 99th minute to secure the victory.
St. John's will face Samford in the Second Round on Friday, Nov. 19 in Durham, N.C.
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