Seton Hall University
St. John's
Pirates Fall at STJ on Sunday
9/30/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
It was the first meeting between the two squads since Seton Hall picked up a 1-0 win over the Red Storm in the first round of the 2011 BIG EAST Tournament, which snapped a then 10-game losing streak to St. John's
St. John's (6-7-0, 2-4-0) grabbed the early advantage with a goal from Runa Stefansdottir in the 12th minute. Coming free on a breakaway down the left side of the field, Stefansdottir pulled up for a shot at the top of the goal box and beat Seton Hall starting goalkeeper Alyssa Kelly (Southampton, N.J.) to the far right corner.
Junior forward Katie Ritter (Hagerstown, Md.) nearly came up with the equalizer for Seton Hall in the 25th minute but narrowly missed on a shot from close range. The attempt started with a pass from junior Brittney Albrecht (Mahwah, N.J.) finding Ritter on the left side, she dribbled in to about 10-yards out and fired a low blast toward to the far right corner, but it bounced just past the far post and out of play.
St. John's second goal of the half was a result of a impressive Sandra Osborn set piece from just inside of midfield. Osborn hammered a ball on net off the free kick and with Stefansdottir running just in front of Kelly on the play, the SHU keeper was unable to maintain control of the towering shot, and it went just through her hands and into the net.
The final six minutes of the first half saw the Pirates come up with their two best scoring chances of the period. The first was from junior midfielder Ashley Clarke (Paramus, N.J.) as she pulled up for a shot at the top of the area and curved a great shot just over the crossbar and out of play.
Redshirt-senior Stephanie Soma (Franklin, Mass.) created the second shot on net with a little under three minutes to play in the period. A few steps past the 18-yard line she blasted a hard shot toward the right side, but Ellen Conway knocked it down and then controlled the rebound before Seton Hall had a second chance at a shot.
The shot totals were even at 5-5 in the first half, but the Red Storm held a 3-2 edge in attempts on net.
The start of the second half was not nearly as physical as the first 45 minutes of action, and neither team generated many offensive chances through the first 15 minutes of the period.
Morgan Ritter came up with the first shot of the half for St. John's after the Red Storm had several runs at the net that did not result in a shot. Sprinting up the right side Morgan Ritter had a hard shot that was just barely deflected high and right and St. John's did not get anything going off the corner kick chance.
In the 65th minute the Pirates nearly cut their deficit in half as Clarke made a centering pass to junior Meghan Hayes (Fredon, N.J.) who one-timed it wide to the right.
St. John's third goal of the game was very similar to the first, only this time it was Jen Gibbons with the score. Taking a pass from Caitlyn McLaughlin at the far right corner of the area, Gibbons sent a long shot across the box and past Seton Hall freshman keeper Gina Maiorana (Street, Md.).
With just over 20 minutes to play the Pirates once again came close to finding their first goal. Freshman Christie Cherup (Wayne, N.J.) booted a shot off the crossbar and the rebound bounced out of play as St. John's maintained its three-goal lead.
The Red Storm scored again in the 79th minute. Megan Klement tallied the first goal of her career after Seton Hall attempted to clear the ball off of St. John's set piece on the far right side. The ball found its way to Klement in the middle of the field and she beat Maiorana with a long shot line-drive shot to the left side.
Seton Hall finished the game with a 9-8 edge in shot attempts and the Pirates sent three shots on net. The Red Storm were whistled for 12 fouls in the physical contest, compared to five for SHU.
Seton Hall (6-8-0, 1-5-0) continues its four-game road trip next weekend when it heads to South Bend, Ind., on Friday, Oct. 5, to face Notre Dame University at 7:30 p.m.
