By Joseph Staszewski
The St. John’s University’s women’s soccer team continues to give us new reasons to take notice.
If having the nation’s leading goal scorer in Rachel Daly and making the team’s first NCAA tournament appearance since 2009 wasn’t enough, the Red Storm added a few more highlights to the best season in program history. They picked up their first NCAA tournament win with a 3-1 upset of nationally ranked UCF in the opening round last week. St. John’s did so behind a coming-out party-type performance by freshman goalkeeper Diana Poulin.
She made eight saves to help the Red Storm survive a barrage of shots in the second half. Poulin made numerous diving stops and was punching away dangerous passes as well.
“It’s the best performance I’ve seen from a women’s soccer [goalie] here at St. John’s in the 20 years I’ve been here,” SJU Coach Ian Stone said. “It was just that impressive.”
Poulin said much of the game is still a blur for her. The first few big saves calmed her nerves. She was so zoned in that the only way she knew exactly how well she was playing was through all the complements her teammates were paying her during match.
“I think it shocked some of the other teams maybe because I’m only a freshman,” Poulin said.
She thinks her hot play and confidence can carry over into the next game. If so, St. John’s (12-5-3) will have a good chance of continuing its run against Arkansas 5 p.m. Friday at Duke in the second round. A win puts them in the Sweet 16 against the Florida-Duke winner at 1 p.m. Sunday.
“It’s possible and I hope that I can do that,” Poulin said of keeping her game at a high level.
Stone believes his team will have to play the game to their style — technical and with the ball on the ground — against a physical Arkansas team that finished eight in the SEC. The coach thinks his team is up for any challenge.
“It’s a group I always knew had a lot of talent,” Stone said. “Now they are beginning to combine the talent with a real competitive fire.”
It makes for a club that is fun to root for. It has a gritty veteran defense led by junior Georgia Kearney-Perry and an opportunist offense. Stone and Poulin have noticed the excitement they are generating around campus.
It’s time for those outside the walls of St. John’s to also take notice of what this team has accomplished and what’s still possibly ahead of them this year.
“It’s been amazing the last couple of weeks how the St. John’s community has gotten behind us,” Stone said. “It’s exciting for me for someone who has been here when we haven’t had all that attention.”
They earned every bit of it.
