Two weeks after the season finale, the dream was realized as St. John’s earned their first birth in the NCAA Women’s Soccer tournament. Their first game is against the University of Virginia, which finished seventh in the ACC. The game will be played in Happy Valley, Penn. with Penn State, the fourth seed in their bracket serving as the host. Should the Red Storm advance, they would take on the winner of the Penn State-Colgate game.
 
Even though the Red Storm lost a closely played 1-0 game to first-place Marquette on a goal in the 86th minute, they were still able to hold on to second place in the American Division, earning a first-round bye and a quarterfinals match up with Georgetown. St. John’s had not advanced to the Big East quarterfinals since 2006, where they lost to top-seed Notre Dame 3-0.
               
The meeting was a clash of styles as St. John’s stingy defense had to find ways to stop Georgetown’s explosive offense. Georgetown led the Big East with 45 goals (10 more than Notre Dame) and 49 assists (19 more than Villanova) and third with 297 shots. Georgetown players know how to set each other up for scoring opportunities as four of the top five assists leaders in the Big East were Hoyas. 
 
The Johnnies finished tied for third in goals allowed with 11 and sophomore goalie Kristin Russell finished third in the conference with a .867 save percentage. With eight shutouts in 2009, Russell finished the season with 18 career shutouts, tied for first in school history. It’s an honor that Russell wasn’t initially aware of. “To be honest, I didn’t even know until someone told me,” she said. “But it’s a very good accomplishment for the whole team. It was a little surprising to do it as a sophomore. It’s a great accomplishment.”
 
St. John’s took care of business against Georgetown, winning by the familiar score of 1-0 in double overtime. Senior Tara Mendoza, a Valley Stream native scored the game-winning Golden Goal in the 102nd minute to lead the Red Storm into the semi-finals against top-seeded Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish proved to be tough competition, as the Storm forced overtime when Nicole Doran scored just before the 69th minute, but Notre Dame went ahead in overtime in the 98th minute, ending the regular season for the Red Storm.
 
The Red Storm have played a lot of close, low-scoring games during the season. They have played in 14 games decided by one goal, going 9-5 in those games. Ten of those games were 1-0 decisions, with the Storm winning six by that score. St. John’s head coach Ian Stone, in his 16th season at the helm, looks at those close games as a positive.
               
“Because of the schedule that we’ve had all season, we’re pretty much prepared for that. We know it’s going to be tight, it could go either way. And fortunately we’ve got a pretty fit group that are pretty mature now that have been through situations like this before,” he said. “I think the fact that we’ve won the majority of them is a good thing as long as we keep defending well and keep it tight there than we only need one to score to win.” 
               
Senior defender Courtney Lane, a native of Westbury, said that the team believes it can go far, but doesn’t want to lose focus on the task at hand. “We gotta take it one game at a time, one practice at a time, stay together as a team, and the just hope for the best. I think moving forward we’ll do really well. We’re excited and hopefully we’ll do really well. I feel really confident heading into the tournament.” 
 
Coach Stone said he gave the team a couple of days off after the emotional Senior Day before heading back to the practice field for a normal schedule. While the team couldn’t clinch the top spot in the Big East American Division, they still have a lot to play for. “I think for the seniors it would’ve been a good culmination to four years and that we got better and better every year and they got better as individuals and it would’ve been a nice way to finish it off,” said Stone. “But maybe now it gives us a little bit more motivation to move forward into the NCAA Tournament.”
 
Doran said that this season has meant a lot to her being part of the large senior class in their final season of college soccer. “It’s my senior season, so it means everything. We’ve been playing since we were five. It’s your last season at college so you want to make it for what it is,” she said. “Our group of girls have gotten so lucky in the fact that we all get along and love each other so much and we just are a tight unit and we’ll continue to be.”