WSOU

Recap: Pirates Drop Season Finale at Providence, 2-0

Date: October 29, 2021

By: Ryan Henry

The Seton Hall women's soccer team huddles during a game on the road.

Seton Hall Athletics

The Pirates traveled to Providence, R.I. to play spoiler on the Friars’ Senior Night and end their season on a high note but ended up falling 2-0.

The Friars recognized eight players last night (Amber Birchwell, Jana Braun, Hannah McNulty, Christina Rodgers, Caroline Drinkwater, Celina Falzarano, Elayna Grillakis, and Mara Rodriguez) for their contributions over the past four years.

The Friars came out the gate swinging. Freshman Gillian Kenney took a shot on net just 27 seconds into the match, which was saved by Grace Gordon. Fellow freshman Maria Paveglio and Birchwell tailed shots on goal within the next two minutes, but to no avail. In those three minutes, the Friars recorded three shots on net, which was more than what the Pirates had all night.

At the 4:40 mark, the Friars would register their first corner kick of the night which didn’t lead to much. Around the nine-minute mark, McNulty would get a shot on goal, but Gordon, whose night had already been busy at that point, recorded her fourth save.

For the next 30 minutes, the Friars were still aggressive offensively, recording four shots on goal and four corner kicks. Meanwhile, the Pirates had still yet to record an offensive stat.

At the 40:42 mark, the Friars finally broke the tie with junior Angie Suaza scoring off a penalty kick. Gordon did guess the correct side Suaza went to, but she only stuck out her leg on the save attempt instead of diving for it. Suaza’s goal was her second this season and the first since Sacred Heart, which happened all the way back on Aug. 25.

The first half concluded with the Pirates being down 1-0. The score didn’t reflect the utter domination happening on the pitch. In the first 45 minutes of action, the Friars outshot the Pirates 21-0, had nine shots on goal compared to zero, and had five corner kicks compared to zero.

The offense improved in the second half, but it still wasn’t spectacular. The Pirates would finally record their first offensive stat of the game at the 47th minute. Laura Hooper set up Naomi Welch for a beautiful opportunity to tie the game, but her shot hit the top of the crossbar. Welch would get another opportunity in the 49th minute, but Providence goalie Emma Bodmer made the save.

In the 57th minute, Providence would get on the board again as All-Big East Second Team Meg Hughes would score her ninth goal of the season thanks to a beautiful cross from Kenney. All Hughes had to do was maneuver past one defender as she sent the shot past Gordon.

In the 64th minute, the Pirates would get another shot attempt, but Natalie Tavana missed wide right. Finally, in the 76th minute, the Pirates would get their first corner kick of the night. The Pirates and Friars would go back and forth for the final 15 minutes, but no one scored.

For the Pirates, the main star had to be Grace Gordon, who recorded a career-high 12 saves in tonight’s contest. Her growth from her sophomore to junior season was one of the sole bright spots for this Pirates team all season.

With the conclusion of this game, the Pirates finish the 2021 season going 6-12 with a 1-9 record against the Big East. After starting out the season strong at a 5-3, the Pirates struggled to end the season. Their sole Big East win was their conference opener against Villanova on Sept. 23. The Pirates then ended their season on a nine-game losing streak, which included a scoreless streak of seven games.

Despite securing the most wins in a season in almost a decade, the underwhelming performance of this team in the second half of the season made once this promising season end on an unfortunate note.

Ryan Henry can be reached at ryan.henry@student.shu.edu.

Posted in: Women's Soccer, Sports, WSOU

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