Written by Michael Lewis, Front Row Soccer

Uniondale, NY – Jessica Garziano certainly enjoyed a memorable 2023 for not one, but two teams.

As a member of the Long Island Rough Riders women’s squad, Garziano played a prominent role in helping the team finish second in the Metropolitan Division and a spot in the USL W League playoffs.

Playing for the St. John’s University women’s team, the Melville, N.Y. native set high standards thanks to her overall play, earning All-American honors.

“Jess was a leader on our team,” Rough Riders General Manager Tanner Sands said. “She was consistently there for us all year. She also was just a great person to have as part of the program, from an ambassador role to what she accomplished on the field. We are excited to see what she has in store for the future.”

Garziano was named a United Soccer Coaches second team All-American. She will be recognized at the organization’s convention in Anaheim, Calif. on Jan. 14.

A midfielder, Garziano became the fourth player in Red Storm history to earn All-American honors, joining Rachel Daly (2013 and 2015), Georgia Kearney-Perry (2015) and Zsani Kajan (2021). She was the first Red Storm player born in the United States to receive the honor.

She enjoyed a productive and memorable final season, recording 10 goals and 11 assists. A Melville, N.Y. native, Garziano became the first St. John’s player to register to double-digit goals and assists in the same season.

Not surprisingly, Garziano accrued several accolades this past season.

Garziano was named the Big East midfielder of the year and a unanimous first team all-league selection. She became only the third player to ever receive conference honors four times.

Wait, there’s more.

She led the conference in points (31), assists (11) and finished second in goals (10). She averaged 0.58 assists per game, which ranked her 11th nationally. Garziano’s season point mark ranked fifth all-time in program history and 22nd in the country.

Garziano became the Red Storm’s women’s program career assist leader with an assist in a 4-3 win over Harvard University on Sept. 17.

She also excelled in the classroom as Garziano was named a College Sports Communicators first team Academic All-American. The organization was formerly known as CoSIDA.

A graduate of Half Hollow Hills East High School, Garziano logged a 3.87 grade-point average at St. John’s, while working towards a graduate degree in applied math.

The Rough Riders women will return to action in May.