The St. John’s University women begins its fall season at Belson Stadium as they welcome Saint Joseph’s Thursday at a 7 p.m.

The Red Storm was selected by the Big East head coaches to finish fifth in the league this year. Last season the Johnnies put together a historic run that was capped by an appearance in the NCAA Division I Tournament Round of 16. The Johnnies concluded their season with a 13-7-3 record and a 6-3-1 mark in the conference. Earning its 16th conference tournament berth, St. John’s made an appearance in the 2021 Big East Championship game for the first time since winning it all in 1994.

St. John’s returns plenty of its top talent, including last season’s assist leader Jessica Garziano. A two-time all-Big East honoree, Garziano was named to the United Soccer Coaches midfielders to watch list and was also a Preseason Big East selection.

The senior was selected as a United Soccer Coaches East Region second team selection and an All-Big East second team honoree in 2021. Garziano paced the Red Storm squad in assists during the 2021 season as she dished out 10 helpers on the year, with five in league play.

A mainstay on the Johnnies’ backline, Katherine Turner also returns. The London native has started all 52 matches in which she has seen action in during her career and has logged more than 4,500 minutes. In 2021, Turner anchored a defense that posted 11 shutouts.

Head coach Ian Stone enters his 29th season at the helm for the Red Storm. Stone adjusted his coaching staff in the offseason, promoting Amy Marron to associate head coach. Samantha Masur was named an assistant coach in June while Matt Anderson replaced the St. John’s alumna as the director of soccer operations.

Saint Joseph’s comes to Queens for the first match of the season after posting a 6-12-2 record in 2021. The Hawks went 5-5 against Atlantic 10 opponents and reached the semifinals of the A-10 tournament. Saint Joseph’s was picked to finish seventh in the Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll.

The Hawks return Ashley Orendac, the team’s leading scorer. Orendac scored five goals as a junior, finishing with a team-high 10 points. Katie Cappelletti, who performed so well for the Rochester Lady Lancers earlier this year, was Saint Joseph’s goalkeeper for all 20 matches as a sophomore. Entering her junior season with the Hawks, the Dewitt, N.Y., native boasts a 1.33 career goals0against average, having made 141 saves.

The meeting will be the sixth all-time between the two programs, with the Johnnies having won the last four meetings. Last season, St. John’s topped the Hawks, 5-0, as Zsani Kajan recorded a hat-trick.

The game will be streamed live on FloSports with Kevin Connelly on the call.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.