WSOU

Seton Hall loses a close one to Siena

Date: September 13, 2019

By: Heaven Hill

After being shut out by the previously winless LIU Sharks, Seton Hall dropped the second game of their homestand to the Siena Saints 2-1 in Whippany, NJ.

Freshman Harpa Johannsdottir was in goal for this one and it was presumed that the Lady Pirates would start the game with a sense of urgency, after being stunned by Long Island in their previous outing. While this may have been the plan from head coach Ciara Crinion initially, the game itself was a different story as the Hall were whistled for fouls on midfielders Emma Ramsay and Saga Sigurdardottir early, along with an offsides call as well. 

The Saints parlayed this early sloppiness into two corner kicks and a few shots. Although they were all either saved by Johannsdottir or weren’t on goal, it seemed as if the blueprint for the Saints was to put pressure on the freshman goalie for Seton Hall and to make her work early and often.

Unfortunately for Crinion’s squad, this tactic worked as Siena was able to strike first blood, with a gorgeous volley off the foot of forward Ashleigh Sarafin in the 34th minute, after another offsides call on the Lady Pirates. Seton Hall was now in a similar situation to the LIU game, where the Sharks scored in the 43rd minute of action. This time around, we would be able to see if they had grown and improved in the week since.

The Hall responded with three shots in the final 11 minutes of the first half, including two shots on goal that were brilliantly saved by senior Taylor Dorado. They were beginning to apply pressure and although they entered halftime at a deficit, it didn’t seem insurmountable.

Seton Hall continued to harass the Siena defense, attacking relentlessly. A shot from forward Marissa Aniolowski, shots on goal from defender Emily Caza and midfielder Laura Hooper, but the senior goalie Dorado for the Saints was like a brick wall early in the second half.

That was until the Lady Pirates broke through with their first goal since August 29, an absolute rocket from defender Danielle Brinckman in the 68th minute. The Hall had finally knotted things up and a chance to possibly secure their second win of the season was tantalizingly within reach.

The Pirates continued with their second half aggressiveness that has almost become a staple of Crinion’s unit, with a series of shots from defender Lauren DiPietro, Sigurdadottir and midfielder Isabelle Engel in the 10 minutes following the goal. This has clearly been a team that can turn up the tenacity in big moments, and Crinion has been great at instilling this as a priority. Unfortunately for the Lady Pirates, the Saints weren’t in the mood for allowing a comeback.

The win seemed so close for Seton Hall, but the hero of the game for Siena, the devastating sophomore Serafin, became a thorn in the side of the Lady Pirates as she slotted her second goal of the night behind Johannsdottir in the 83rd minute for a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. The remaining seven minutes passed without a hitch as the Saints were able to steal a win from the grasp of the Pirates, in crushing fashion.

After these last two heartbreaking games, the Hall looks to shake off their losing streak against the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils, at home this time at Seton Hall Prep instead of the Red Bulls Training Facility. Against a team that is currently winless on the road, let’s see if the Lady Pirates can finally match their win total from all of last season this time around.

Heaven Hill can be reached at heaven.hill@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Sports, WSOU

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