QUEENS, N.Y. - The St. John's women's soccer team opened up its 2008 campaign on Friday night with a shutout win, 1-0, over Fairfield at Belson Stadium.

"We worked hard and defended well as a unit, limiting a very good offensive team to only a few chances," head coach Ian Stone said. "We found a way to grind out a win. I thought we worked particularity hard. We used a lot of players and it showed a lot of depth. It's pretty exciting to see how far we can go over the course of the season.

St. John's (1-0) scored the only goal it needed in the opening period, jumping ahead, 1-0, in the 37th minute. After the ball was moved into the Red Storm offensive zone, junior C.J. Ludemann looked to make a move and then crossed the ball in front of the net. Junior Amanda Santos was waiting in front of the goal and headed the ball into the back right corner of the net past the keeper for the score. The goal was the third-career goal for Santos, and the assist marked the first for Ludemann in a Red Storm uniform, as she transferred from Duke this summer.

Fairfield's (0-1) best scoring opportunity came in the 79th minute of play. Spenser Allaway had an open lane in the Stag's offensive third, but Vaila Barsley took away the opportunity by coming up with the defensive stop by tackling her in the box.

In the opening minutes of contest, the Stags' offense pressured the Red Storm defense, but STJ quickly turned things into its favor and its offense surged the remainder of the way. The Red Storm finished the contest out-shooting Fairfield 13-4.

Freshman Kristin Russell got the start in net and posted her first-career shutout en route to the victory. She played the full 90 minutes and made one save.