[UCF-ST. JOHN’S: Women] St. John’s was outshot 26-3 but made all three shots count as it earned its first NCAA Tournament victory with a 3-1 comeback winover No. 3 regional seed UCF. The Red Storm got a goal — her NCAA-leading 23rd of the season — and assist from Rachel Daly and a great game from freshmankeeper Diana Poulin to hand the Knights their first loss in 18 games.
“It was a great team effort tonight,” St. John’s coachIan Stone said. “Our defense was terrific against a strong UCF offense and Diana was outstanding in goal. The entire group showed the amount of heart thisteam has and they found a way to get it done.”
UCF put St. John’s under immediate pressure and scored first with a long-range goal by TatianaColeman in the 18th minute.
But it took the Red Storm just over a minute to even the game when Haraughty scored on across from Daly. St. John’s grabbed a 2-1 lead two minutes later when a UCF defender tried to head Amy Marron’s shot out of play but sent the ballover the hands of the goalie.
Poulin made six saves in the final 45 minutes to hold off UCF until Daly added an insurance goal in the 66th minute.
“Diana wassimply fantastic,” Stone said. “For a freshman to have that amount of composure in a NCAA game and against a ranked opponent is unbelievable. It was the best performance I’ve seenfrom a St. John’s goalkeeper.”