Credit: Kyle Ferreira
Pirates Fall to Creighton, Eliminated from Big East Tournament Contention
Published: Friday, October 25, 2024
by AJ Rayer
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J - The Pirates fell just short against Creighton on Thursday despite a late score. Creighton improves to 8-5-1 on the season and 5-3 in the BIG EAST. Seton Hall drops to 4-10-3 on the season and 1-4-2 in the BIG EAST play, with two conference matches remaining.
This match got off to an ugly start for the Pirates, with Creighton dominating time of possession and shots on goal right from the jump. In the seventh minute, the Bluejays finally broke through when Stella Downing launched a shot past Seton Hall goalkeeper Anna Prawer to give Creighton the advantage.
Creighton just seemed a step ahead of the Pirates all throughout the first half, making clean passes and working quickly to shut down Seton Hall’s main scorers in Chiara Pucci and Natalie Tavana. Creighton struck again in the 20th minute when Maddie Radke sent a long 35-yard pass right on target to Ariana Mondiri who was in perfect position in the box to score and double Creighton’s lead.
The rest of the first half featured more scoring opportunities for Creighton, and Seton Hall being unable to break through a tough Bluejays defense. Within the Hall’s frustrations, Chiara Pucci picked up a yellow card in the 28th minute after a midfield collison. At the end of the first 45, Creighton had 10 total shots to Seton Hall’s two. Defensively, Anna Prawer was busy through the beginning minutes and finished the half with five saves.
After the break, the Pirates looked like a different team in the opening minutes of the second half. Natalie Tavana had a scoring opportunity just over a minute into the half. It took a diving effort by Creighton’s goalkeeper Alyssa Zalac to prevent the score.
As it started getting colder in the later minutes of the game, Seton Hall started to gain momentum despite being down two scores. Nina Davis and Olivia Beauvois put shots on goal in the 72nd minute but to no avail.
Defensively, a Pirates’ halftime adjustment to insert goalkeeper Avery Strohecker in net for Anna Prawer seemed to be working, as Creighton only put up three shots in the second half. Credit to Seton Hall’s backline for breaking up multiple Bluejay breakaways and keeping the opponent’s offense dormant after earlier struggles to.
With the clock winding down, the Pirates became more and more desperate to find any type of offense. Time after time again, Creighton seemed to just barely escape a Pirates goal.
As the game reached its final seconds, the Pirates put one through the net, as Kylie Ray sent a long cross into the box that found an open Nina Davis. Her shot hit off a Creighton defender and barely passed a diving Zalac, cutting Creighton’s lead in half, and wiping away Zalac’s clean sheet, 2-1.
But it was too little too late for the Pirates, as Creighton picked up the win just a few moments later. They now solidified their third place position in the conference with just two more games in the regular season.
Looking forward, The Pirates are officially out of contention for making the upcoming Big East Tournament. They will look to finish this year strong as they take on UConn on Sunday in Storrs, before wrapping up their season at home against Marquette on Halloween.
AJ Rayer can be reached at alexander.rayer@student.shu.edu.Posted in: sports,