INDIANAPOLIS – St. John's defeated Butler on Thursday night by scoring a goal in the final stages of the first half. The 'Dawgs made halftime adjustments to even out possession in the final 45 minutes, but the first half score would decide the final outcome moving the nationally-ranked Johnnies to 10-1 on the year. With the setback, Butler moves to 8-4-1.

"We were a little slow in the first 20-25 minutes of the match, but a lot of that is just a credit to St. John's and their pressing game," Co-Head Coach Rob Alman stated. "That's the preseason favorite to win the conference this year and it's one of the best teams in the country."

St. John's scored the lone goal of the match in the 42nd minute of action off the foot of Miranda Haraughty. The play started on the left side of the field with Lucy Whipp in possession of the ball. Whipp beat her defender and got a shot off which was saved by Madison Card. Card was unable to hold onto the shot and Haraughty took advantage of her opportunity by scoring her first goal of the season off the rebound.

The goal from Haraughty separated the two evenly matched teams. Halftime stats were right down the middle with Butler taking nine shots compared to eight from STJ. Corner kicks were also spot on with the Johnnies taking four and Butler taking three. The 'Dawgs became even more aggressive in the second half, outshooting St. John's 4-1.

"They fostered a lot of mistakes out of us early, but I thought we were really good in the last 20 minutes of the first half," Alman added. "In the second half I thought we were dominant… I thought we were the better team from start to finish in the second half."

Butler attacked throughout the final 45 minutes of the contest, but shots would sail wide of the goal on each side. Only one of Butler's 13 tries were on goal as the Red Storm ended the match with one save. STJ used two keepers in Katie DeVault and Diana Poulin. DeVault made the start, but Poulin recorded the only save for the visitors.

"St. John's is a great team," Sophia Maccagnone said after the match. "Rachel Daly is one of the best players in the conference and they have one of the best defenses too so we knew coming into the game that it was going to be a challenge. We were also excited because we know we can compete with them."

Butler was able to stay in the match in part to the strong play of Madison Card who ended the game with three saves. In the end the St. John's defense was too much to break down as the Bulldogs failed to score a goal at home for the first time this season.

Butler will return to action on Sunday, Oct. 4 with a road match at Providence. Action can be viewed live on the BIG EAST Digital Network beginning at 1 p.m.

"Providence is a tough team, especially when you play at their place," Alman stated. "For us it's just a case of going in there and doing what we were able to do here tonight in the second half.  We played with more freedom in the second half and the defensive work was excellent. We play our best soccer when we are free flowing."