Seton Hall University
Rider
WSOC Falls to Rider in Home Opener
8/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall women's soccer team fell in its 2014 home opener on Monday, dropping a 1-0 decision to Rider.
The Pirates (1-1) outshot the Broncs 15-to-10 and forced eight saves from Rider keeper Bethany-May Howard but could not find the back of the net. The result halted a 13-match unbeaten streak for The Hall at home against non-conference opponents, a stretch that began during the 2010 campaign.
Rider (1-0) struck early as in the seventh minute, a clearance attempt from Seton Hall keeper Gina Maiorana (Street, Md.) deflected off an on-rushing player and settled at the feet of Priscilla Santos who guided the ball into the vacant net to put the Broncs on top.
Seton Hall nearly pulled level just over 10 minutes later when junior co-captain Emily Hansinger (Mount Laurel, N.J.) helped work an opportunity from the back as she found Frankie Maier (Oradell, N.J.) in the midfield who played in junior Amanda Gulli (Toms River, N.J.) down the left wing but Howard was there to deny the near-post effort.
Mere minutes after she nearly provided the final ball for Gulli, Maier came within inches of equaling the score herself when an interception allowed her to make a central run at goal. The sophomore created space for a shot by feinting a through ball to Gulli near the top of the area and fired a powerful shot that Howard was forced to parry over her head. The Rider keeper had come out to cut the angle however, and off the deflection the ball still appeared bound to cross the line but with some help from the post Howard was able to recover and keep The Hall off the board.
Howard made two more stops prior to the half-hour mark, helping the Broncs take the slight edge into the break.
The second half was a possession battle that saw limited looks at goal for both squads. Seton Hall senior Kristina Meier (Paramus, N.J.) forced Howard back into action with a shot from distance in the 69th minute and a quarter-hour later, the Rider sophomore would come up with her eighth and final save of the contest when she denied junior D'Yonna Riley (Washingtonville, N.Y.) from in close after Riley had run onto another piercing ball from Maier.
Maiorana finished with three saves for The Hall and has now allowed just one goal in her last four appearances dating back to 2012.
The win was the first for Rider in three all-time meetings between the two programs and came in what was the first matchup in the series since 2002.
The Pirates will return to action on Friday, August 29 when they travel to Piscataway to take on another in-state foe in Rutgers. Kick-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
