For the first 32 minutes of Big East play, it looked like the Huskies were outmatched when up against St. John’s. However, the old firm of captains and upperclassmen, along with some impressive freshmen play, led to one of the biggest comebacks since UConn’s time in the Big East began.
The action began right away as Anna Carson sent a free kick to Abbey Jones, whose header was high and out of bounds. Then Chioma Okafor, looking to continue her stellar season, took one touch on a pass from Jones and fired a shot which went wide right of the net. The first direct shot on net from the Huskies came in the sixth minute as Lina Dantes’ shot was saved by the St. John’s goalie, Kayla Bower. The final opportunity for Connecticut to start the game came when Laci Lewis crossed a pass and, for a moment, it looked like Okafor had an open shot. But then the offside flag went up and any possible opportunity was squandered.
St. John’s began their attacks in the 19th minute when Lauryn Tran stole the ball, which eventually found the Red Storm’s top goal scorer, Jordyn Levy. However, Levy’s shot was too high.
Things would quickly start to go in the Red Storm’s favor as star freshman Nora Basile pushed the pace, causing Kaitlyn Mahoney to leave the net. Basile was able to get a pass off to Levy who, using her off foot, put in the first goal of the game. That was the fifth goal of the season for Levy and the first collegiate point for Basile.
The pressure continued from St. John’s as Athina Sofroniou sent a corner kick which was met by Juliana Dane, and the Red Storm found themselves up 2-0. Just mere minutes later, the Huskies got over aggressive on the ball in their own zone as Mahoney left the net, allowing Janelle Sylvestre to flip the ball over the Big East Goalkeeper of the Year and into the goal for a 3-0 St. John’s lead.
UConn finally caught a break as a handball inside the box created a penalty shot for Okafor. She calmly put the ball in the left corner for the first Connecticut goal of the game.
The 40th minute of the game saw Sophie McCarthy send a beautiful corner kick right to Lucy Cappadona. The captain sent it straight to the back of the net for the second Husky goal of the game. St. John’s led 3-2 at halftime.
Another one of Connecticut’s captains, Jones, was right in the mix for the next goal. Jones took the ball past everyone and made her way into the box before her shot was deflected by Sofroniou, earning UConn a corner kick. On the corner kick, Joyce Ryder sent a great pass of her own right to Naia Ocio, who promptly tied the game up with a header. The goal was the second of the season for the Spain native.
Okafor tried twice more to make her presence felt. First, a Husky pass caused new goalie Malene Nelson to be out of position. The two collided and the play was waved offside. Both were shaken up, but would remain in the game. A few minutes later, Okafor then stole the ball from a St. John’s player and seemed about to break the tie; however, Nelson made a diving save and the ball went out of bounds.
St. John’s did not have a real opportunity to score in the second half until the 76th minute, when Mia Agresti had a direct shot on net. However, the junior did not have enough legs on the shot and Mahoney easily scooped up the save.
The Red Storm pushed the pace minutes later as Jailene DeJesus got past Anaya Johnson. Johnson was able to make an excellent recovery and had a clean tackle on DeJesus, ending the possession for the Red Storm. Fans and players alike wanted a penalty called, but play continued.
The Huskies had a flurry of opportunities in the last five minutes. One possession saw multiple deflections and opportunities inside of the box where both Okafor and Ocio had chances to net their second goals.
The last opportunity of the game came in the last minute, when Maddie Fried took a shot from right outside the box. The ball seemed like it was bending its way in before Nelson made an excellent bump save, deflecting the ball out of bounds.
The game ended in a 3-3 draw, a point for the Huskies in the Big East standings.
Connecticut outshot St. John’s 13-1 in the second half. Unfortunately, only one of them was netted. UConn should be very happy with the outcome, despite the missed opportunities in the second half. Despite the early deficit, they never wavered and after the first 32 minutes, all of the miscues were cleaned up.
UConn’s next game is this Thursday, 7 p.m. at Xavier.