Rosenblatt Scores First Collegiate Goal, Towson Falls to St. John’s in Final Minute
Towson women’s soccer controlled much of the action against St. John’s, but a heartbreaking goal in the final minute sent the Tigers to a 2-1 loss Thursday afternoon at Cox Family Field at Belson Stadium in Queens, New York.
Redshirt sophomore midfielder Sofia Rosenblatt provided the highlight for Towson, scoring the first goal of her collegiate career in the 66th minute to pull the Tigers even.
Towson outshot St. John’s 12-4 and held a slight advantage in possession, but the Red Storm made the most of their limited opportunities and scored the game-winner with just 39 seconds remaining.
The loss moved Towson to 1-1 at the time after opening the 2026 season with a 2-0 victory over Mount St. Mary’s.
Towson Generates Early Pressure
The Tigers entered the matchup looking to build on a strong season-opening performance against Mount St. Mary’s.
Towson again showed an ability to create opportunities.
The Tigers controlled more of the ball and ultimately finished with three times as many shots as St. John’s.
One of Towson’s first dangerous chances arrived in the 22nd minute when Kale’a Perry drew a foul just outside the penalty area.
Perry and Meron Koro lined up over the free kick before Koro quickly attempted to catch the St. John’s defense off guard. Her shot sailed just over the crossbar.
Towson continued to push forward, but the Red Storm eventually found the opening goal.
Replay Changes the Game
St. John’s appeared to take the lead late in the first half before the goal was initially waved off for offside.
Replay review changed the call.
Telma Steindórsdóttir’s goal at the 38:35 mark was awarded following the review, giving St. John’s a 1-0 advantage.
The timing made it particularly difficult for Towson.
Despite controlling portions of the first half, the Tigers went into halftime trailing after St. John’s capitalized on one of its few opportunities.
Towson had three first-half shots compared to two for the Red Storm.
Tigers Come Out Aggressive in Second Half
Towson increased the pressure considerably after halftime.
The Tigers generated nine shots during the second half while St. John’s managed only two.
Paelyn Bayer nearly tied the game in the 63rd minute when she connected with a header off a cross, but the attempt went wide.
Towson did not have to wait much longer.
Three minutes later, Rosenblatt delivered.
Rosenblatt Scores First Collegiate Goal
A Towson corner kick created traffic inside the St. John’s penalty area.
The ball was redirected before finding Rosenblatt, who struck it with pace and beat the goalkeeper to tie the match at 1-1 in the 66th minute.
Zuri Johnson and Jaelyn White were credited with assists.
The goal represented a major milestone for Rosenblatt, a redshirt sophomore midfielder from Irvington, New York.
It was the first collegiate goal of her Towson career.
Rosenblatt had already developed into an increasingly important piece of Towson’s midfield. After seeing limited minutes during portions of the 2025 season, she finished that year by playing significant minutes down the stretch.
She entered 2026 as one of Towson’s returning midfielders and played the entire 90 minutes against St. John’s.
Her first career goal came back in her home state of New York and temporarily appeared as though it might help Towson earn at least a draw on the road.
Towson Continues to Push
The Tigers did not simply sit back after tying the match.
Towson continued creating opportunities and finished the second half with a significant advantage in shots.
Sophie Thibeault led the Tigers with three shots in the match.
Towson finished with 12 total shots and placed four on goal. St. John’s attempted only four shots all afternoon, but all four were on target.
Possession was nearly even, although Towson held a slight 51-49 advantage.
The Tigers also finished with a 3-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Those numbers make the final result particularly frustrating.
Towson generated more opportunities and spent significant stretches controlling play but was unable to convert that control into a second goal.
Heartbreak in the Final Minute
With the game appearing headed toward a 1-1 finish, everything changed in the final minute.
St. John’s regained possession inside the Towson penalty area after the Tigers initially disrupted an attacking opportunity.
Julia Lombardo collected the loose ball and put another shot toward goal.
Sydney Lindeman raced back in an attempt to prevent the ball from crossing the line, but she could not get there in time.
Lombardo’s goal came at 89:21.
Thirty-nine seconds remained.
The dramatic late strike gave St. John’s a 2-1 advantage and left virtually no time for Towson to respond.
It was Lombardo’s first collegiate goal and delivered the Red Storm their first victory of the season.
Gardner’s Scoreless Streak Ends
The opening St. John’s goal also ended an impressive stretch for Towson goalkeeper Teagan Gardner.
Gardner had gone more than 233 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal before Steindórsdóttir’s first-half strike.
She finished the match with two saves.
Gardner and Towson’s defense had shut out Mount St. Mary’s in the season opener, and the Tigers again limited the number of opportunities their opponent generated.
Sydney Lindeman, Jaelyn White, Brooke Birrell and Rosenblatt each played the full 90 minutes.
The defensive performance was better than the final score suggests.
St. John’s simply converted its opportunities at an extremely high rate.
Tough Result Despite Strong Performance
Towson head coach Katherine Vettori praised her team’s effort following the match, particularly the way the Tigers responded in the second half.
The numbers supported that assessment.
Towson outshot St. John’s 9-2 after halftime and 12-4 overall.
The Tigers created chances, defended well for long stretches and responded after falling behind.
But soccer can be unforgiving.
A match Towson largely controlled ended in defeat because St. John’s took advantage of two key moments.
The loss also moved Towson to 0-3-2 all-time against St. John’s.
The Tigers remain winless in the series, although recent meetings have been extremely competitive.
Towson and St. John’s played to a 1-1 draw in 2024 before Thursday’s one-goal decision.
Rosenblatt Quickly Builds on Breakthrough
While the result in Queens was disappointing, Rosenblatt’s first collegiate goal became the beginning of a productive stretch.
Three days later, Rosenblatt scored again when Towson played George Washington to a 2-2 draw in its home opener at Tiger Field.
That gave Rosenblatt goals in consecutive matches after entering the season without a collegiate goal.
For a Towson team looking for additional scoring options throughout the lineup, Rosenblatt’s early emergence provides an encouraging development.
She had already demonstrated an ability to handle major minutes in midfield.
Now she is beginning to add goals.
MSB Take
This is one of those losses where the final score does not tell the entire story.
Towson outshot St. John’s 12-4, controlled slightly more possession and generated significantly more attacking opportunities. On most days, that type of performance gives the Tigers a very good chance to win.
The problem was efficiency.
St. John’s put all four of its shots on goal and converted two of them. Towson generated 12 shots but managed only four on target.
Still, there is plenty for Towson to build from.
The Tigers showed resilience by responding to the controversial first-half goal, controlled most of the second half and received a breakthrough performance from Rosenblatt.
Her development could become an important storyline this season. Rosenblatt played all 90 minutes, scored her first collegiate goal and then followed it with another goal against George Washington.
Losing with 39 seconds remaining is painful, especially when Towson had been the more dangerous attacking team for much of the afternoon.
But performances like this suggest the Tigers have the ability to compete with quality opponents.
The next step is turning that control into wins.
