CADETS PLAY TO DRAW AT HOME

SJC co-captain Aly Grossman
Photo; K. White

St. John's continued its unbeaten streak with a 2-2 draw against visiting St. Mary's Ryken in WCAC action at Quinn Field on Tuesday, October 12th. This marks the team's longest winning streak of the season and comes at a point when the Cadets need it most.

Shannon scored her third and fourth goals of the season against Ryken

Junior midfielder Shannon C. opened the scoring in the 10th minute when she headed home a cross at the six from fellow midfielder Carli T. The goal was a result of excellent combination play in the Knights' defensive third that allowed St. John's ample time and space to register the game's first score.

Ryken answered in the 25th minute when a hard, low-bitting cross caught SJC's Kirsten G. off guard and snuck into the lower corner to even the league fixture at one. Until that point, the Cadets dominated most aspects of the half: possession, attacking play and solid, individual defending across the artificial surface.

A spirited halftime chat with Head Coach Colin Lennon motivated the Cadets to strike early and often in the second stanza - so much so - that they were able to pepper the Ryken goalkeeper with four shots in the first 5 minutes of the half. SJC earned a well-deserved corner kick from pressure and the ensuing set piece produced a hand ball on a Ryken defender that the referee spotted and whistled for a penalty kick.

Collins wasted no time and calmly deposited her attempt straight up the middle to give St. John's a 2-1 lead in the 50th minute. For the next 23 minutes, the attacking play teetered back and forth across midfield for both sides until the Knights stole an errant pass in the SJC defensive third and struck for a game-tying goal in the 73rd minute.

"That goal really stung us", said Lennon. "If we can close out matches like this in the final third of the season, we'll mature as as team and gain confidence heading into the conference tournament."

With the score even at two, SJC made a concerted effort to find the winner through quick, decisive runs off the ball and short passing, which resulted in two additional corner kicks and an indirect kick in the Knights' defensive third. Unfortunately, the Cadets could not solve the Ryken 'keeper as she came up with two big saves to earn her team a point on the road.

"We'll learn from this and take momentum into the derby against Good Counsel on Friday", Lennon mentioned after the match. "It was the type of match that every St. John's student-athlete can and will learn from, especially if we're going to be up against the league leader on Friday."

SJC hosts Good Counsel as part of its first annual FALL YOUTH SOCCER OPEN HOUSE on October 15th. Food and refreshments will be available throughout both games (Varsity, 3:30 PM and Junior Varsity, 5:00 PM); a soccer equipment and uniform donation drive will also be held to support SOCCER WITHOUT BORDERS. All of the donations collected will be tallied and managed by Philip Grossman, younger sibling of Aly, as he completes service requirements for his upcoming Bar Mitzvah.

MATCH STATS

           SJC        SMR
Goals  2            2
Assists 1           1
Shots   14         10
Saves   8           5
CK      5           5
FK      6           1
Fouls  6            12

SJC Goals:  Collins 10', 50' (PK)
SJC Assist: Taylor

SMR Goals: Alyse 25', 73'

Cautions: None.