Seton Hall
Pirates play spoiler against Providence, 4-1, in Senior Night win
Date: October 31, 2019By: Connor Hester
The Seton Hall Pirates (1-13-1) wrapped up their season on Thursday night taking down the Providence Friars (8-7-2) by a score of 4-1 at a rainy and humid Owen T. Carroll field, securing the first Big East win of coach Ciara Crinion’s career. The Friars entered the night holding a tiebreaker with Marquette in sixth place in the Big East, meaning if they win they are in to the Big East tournament.
The Pirates’ three seniors being honored on Senior Night were Jackie Robinson, F/M Siobahn McGovern, and F/D Marissa Aniolowski, were honored in a pregame ceremony on the field. Both teams had been struggling of late, Seton Hall going winless in their last 10 games while Providence had lost their previous two games. The Pirates had been held scoreless in their last 10 games, losing nine of them.
Despite a slow back and forth defensive start to the game the Pirates were able to pressure, playing like a team with nothing to lose. Coming off a corner kick from Saga Sigurdardottir senior Siobahn McGovern scored her first goal of the season in the 21’ to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.
In the 25’ Cassandra Herrigan fired a shot from outside the box and clanked it off the woodwork, popping it up in the air. The Pirates were able to win the loose ball but it was ruled offside.
Following a Providence attack the Pirates were back in the Friars end. Following a blocked pass that went out of bounds for a Pirate corner Sydney Kulenguski crossed the ball into the box and found Marissa Aniolowski, who headed the ball into the back of the net for her first goal since 2017 to put the Hall up 2-0 in the 35’.
The two first half goals were the first goals of the season for McGovern and Aniolowski, capping off their collegiate careers on a high note. “It was awesome, they threw everything into the game”, Coach Ciara Crinion said after the game. “We know how much this season and this game meant to them. They can be extremely happy knowing that they had this type of performance in their last game, for the team and the furture of the program.”
Coming out of the half the Pirates kept the energy up, trying to keep Providence on their heels. Unable to get anything going for the first 20 minutes of the half the Friars appeared to turn up the defensive pressure.
Following a Harpa Johannsdottir goal kick Jai Smith was able to dribble and create a shot from the left side of the net which got blocked. Smith picked up the loose ball and found Sydney Kulenguski who put it in the back of the net for her first goal of the season to put the Hall up 3- 0 in the 70’. After some sustained Pirate pressure Shelby Hogan was able to clear the ball for the Friars, getting it to Elayna Grillakis. Grillakis turned and found Hannah McNulty who got the Friars on the board in the 84’.
Off of the ensuing kickoff the Pirates got the ball deep in the Providence end and applied more pressure. Providence was able to clear the ball, but a tackle by the Pirates got them the ball again. Alyssa Reszkowski found Danielle Camilleri who netted the Pirates fourth goal of the night to extend the led to 4-1 and put the final nail in the coffin of the Friars
Coming into the night Harpa Johannsdottir had been one of the few bright spots for the Pirates, ranked third in the Big East in saves. Making four more tonight she ended the year with 59. “She’s awesome, she’s so solid” said coach Crinion after the game, “when we look to the future of the program, she is someone that can go in and help our backline feel more confident”.
Pirates take down Providence for first Big East win since 2016. Seton Hall finishes their season with a 2-13-1 overall record and look to improve next season.
Connor Hester can be reached at connor.hester@student.shu.edu.
