Christina Bellero scored her team-best fifth goal of the season in extratime. (Photo courtesy of St. John’s SID)
QUEENS, N.Y. – Christina Bellero scored in the 105th minute to lift the St. John’s University women to a 1-0 extratime victory over 10-player Creighton University in Big East action at Belson Stadium Thursday night.
With the game knotted at zero in the second extratime period, freshman Maia Cabrera sent a through ball from midfield to an open Bellero, who beat goalkeeper McKenzie Meola for the golden goal. It was Bellero’s team-leading fifth of the season.
“Creighton is a fantastic team and they’re way better than their record,” head coach Ian Stone said. “It was one of those game where you’re kind of gambling as it when on because we played a little bit of a different system. We’ve been a little more defensive in the past and we were gambling, ‘Ok, can we get this goal?’ because their offense was pretty good too. Obviously it took a while but we got there.”
St. John’s (5-5-1, 1-1-0) held a 20-16 advantage in shots and a 4-3 lead in corner kicks. Creighton fell to 2-8-1, 0-2-0.
The Red Storm’s defensive and midfield unit provided a solid effort on the night. Sophomore Christine McBeath, seniors Jesse Schaefer, Mikhaila Martinov and Allie Moar, along with junior Alexa Dolgos played the full game. Freshman goalkeeper Jordan Kamp made a season-high eight saves.
In the 87th minute, Madeleine Watson got in behind the defense and was taken down just outside the box. Creighton’s Haylee Blach was shown a red card as the visitors would be forced to play a player down for the remainder of the match. Redshirt freshman Zsani Kajan took a 20-yard free kick, but her shot missed high.
St. John’s hosts Marquette Sunday at 1 p.m. (Big East Digital Network).
