The St. John's women's soccer team wasted no time on Monday evening, finding the back of the net three times in the first 32 minutes of its home opener with Buffalo before eventually downing the Bulls, 3-1, to secure the team’s seventh-straight home opener victory.

 

Lucy Whipp had a stellar night for the Red Storm, needing just three shots to score a pair of goals for the first multi-scoring match of her career. Zsani Kajan tallied the game winner for the Red Storm breaking a 1-1 tie in the 27th minute.

 

Samie Scaffidi registered a pair of assists for her first points of the season while Christina Bellero also dished out a helper for the Red Storm.

 

Meredith Reinhardt delivered a solid effort in her first career start between the pipes for Johnnies, stopping five shots on the evening.

 

Bellero, Claudia Cagnina and Kayla Mesaros each tallied strikes for the Red Storm as the Johnnies outshot the Bulls 10-6.

 

Whipp kicked off the scoring just 11 minutes after the opening whistle off a beautiful pass from Bellero. The senior from Ormskirk, England, beat out the Bulls keeper to find the back of the net giving the Red Storm an early 1-0 lead.

 

Buffalo quickly responded, recording a goal of its own 79 seconds later to knot the match at one.

 

Beginning in the 27th minute, Scaffidi orchestrated an offensive outburst for the Red Storm that put the Johnnies ahead for good.  With the score still tied at one, Scaffidi played a beautiful through ball in front for Kajan, who buried her attempt and gave the Johnnies a 2-1 advantage.  Less than five minutes later, Scaffidi assisted on an insurance tally from Whipp, as the senior delivered a sliding strike from just inside the 18 into the top right corner of the cage.

 

The Red Storm held onto its two-goal advantage for the remainder of the match. With the victory over the Bulls, the Johnnies improved their record to 33-6-7 at Belson Stadium since the start of the 2013 season.

 

 The Johnnies return to action on Thursday night, with a trip to Syracuse, where they will square off with former BIG EAST rival the Orange on Thursday, Aug. 23 at 6 p.m.