QUEENS, N.Y. – With its second-largest shot differential of the season, Villanova picked its first win at St. John's in 25 years with a 1-0 victory Saturday night at Belson Stadium.
The victory snaps a 10-match losing streak for Villanova (8-5, 3-2 BIG EAST) when visiting St. John's (2-7-4, 0-4-2 BIG EAST), grabbing its first win in Queens since a 1-0 victory on Sept. 10, 2000. This is also just the second time Villanova has defeated St. John's since 2011, going 2-11-3 in that time with both of those wins coming in the
Samar Azem era. Before 2022, the last win for Nova in the series was back in 2008.
"This is not an easy St. John's team to play," head coach
Samar Azem said. "Coach Stone has done an incredible job here. The legacy of winning here is amazing. There's a reason we haven't beaten them here in Queens in 25 years and for our team to come out and do that and do so in a fashion where we had the ball, kept the ball where we wanted it, that means we controlled the game. It was incredible."
Villanova outshot the Johnnies 22-2 in the victory. That 20-shot advantage marked the second time this season that the Wildcats have outshot a team by at least 20 attempts with the last being a 23-shot edge against George Mason on August 28. Beyond that, the Blue and White defense held the Red Storm without a shot on goal, the second time that has happened for the 'Cats this season. The other time that happened was in the 1-0 win over Seton Hall in the conference opener on Sept. 20.
Villanova's first solid chance at scoring came from
Avrie Nelsen. She picked up a pass inside and sent a shot near the penalty spot that was saved by the leg of St. John's Kayla Bower.
Alex Little made the break for Villanova in the 12
th minute with her first goal of the year. A
Bella Panaccione corner was pushed back above the box where
Olivia Marrone took control of it with a lob back toward the net. That look was headed by a St. John's defender before falling just enough for Little to flick it into the back of the net.
Villanova peppered on a plethora of chances throughout the rest of the half including a chance from
Hannah Curtin that went just shy of the left post as time expired heading into the break. Through the opening 45, Villanova had already built an 11-0 shot advantage with five falling on frame. It marked the second time this season that the Wildcats did not allow a shot attempt in the first half. The last time they did so was in the BIG EAST opener against Seton Hall when they outshot the Pirates 9-0 through the opening frame.
Morgan Kotch accounted for two of those shots on frame including one in the 19
th minute that the sophomore struck on the side of her foot inside the six-yard box that was quickly blocked by Bower.
It took St. John's until the 51
st minute to get a shot off after being awarded a corner kick. The ball sailed into the box and was punched away by
Hannah Dickinson with Leana Ruiz possessing it at the top of the box. She took a chance that was blocked by the 'Cats and sent back into play.
Villanova had a chance to go up by two goals in the 58
th minute on a deflection shot by Little after Curtin's attempt was saved and bobbled by Bower. After a VAR review, Villanova was ruled offsides, keeping the Blue and White lead at one goal.
Kotch's eighth shot of the night was another strong scoring chance for the 'Cats but her kick was blocked by a St. John's defender with nearly two minutes remaining. She led all players with those eight attempts, notching a new season-high on the team and resetting the best tally of her career.
Dickinson picked up her sixth solo clean sheet of the season in the win and her 12
th as a Wildcat. The team as a whole has now had seven shutout wins this year, the most since the 2019 team had eight. On the other end, Bower tallied eight of the team's nine saves in the loss.
Villanova comes back home for the first time in three weeks to host Marquette on Wednesday. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. inside Higgins Soccer Complex.
