It was home opening day for the Seton Hall Pirates and the start of a season with hopes of improving from last year’s season. Their first opponent of the season was the Knights of Fairleigh Dickinson University.
It was an evenly matched game as the rain fell in South Orange, NJ, with the Seton Hall Pirates securing their first win of the season in a 2-1 game.
In the opening minutes of the game, Junior midfielder Kileigh Gorman was able to get past an FDU defender to leave her one-on-one with the goalkeeper, and from there, the Pirates were able to go up 1-0. A strong offensive start for the Pirates that would hopefully stick throughout the game.
However, Seton Hall slowly started losing control of possession throughout the half, which ultimately led to FDU’s first goal of the season by Ana Salas. With this goal, the Knights were able to even the playing field.
With applied pressure to the Seton Hall offense, the FDU Knights were able to switch their focus to the offense to find their potential second goal of the match. With about seven minutes left to play in the half, Marina Burzaco was in the box but unable to convert a major opportunity that could have brought FDU on top with two goals.
As the half came to an end, the Seton Hall offense was finally able to find two of the biggest opportunities of the half to score a second goal. Sabrina Campbell, running down the left wing, had an opportunity to chip a shot over the keeper but was not able to execute, and the shot drifted towards the left of the goal.
Sophomore midfielder Allison Nase of FDU had a major impact in preventing any offensive action down the left wing from happening throughout the closing minutes of the half.
In the second half, the FDU Knights seemed to have run out of steam, as they were not able to get a single shot at the Seton Hall goal in the entire half and so with momentum starting to swing back their way, the Seton Hall offense started creating chances. While the Knights continued to play and attempt to attack, one giant defensive mistake cost them the game.
While inside the box, Kileigh Gorman was tackled by an FDU defender, and Seton Hall was awarded a penalty. The kick was scored by Gianna Angelillo to bring the score to 2-1.
This result gives the Pirates a much-needed first win of the season.
Next week, Fairleigh Dickinson will travel to the University of Maryland at Ludwig Field to try and get a win back, while Seton Hall will continue playing at home at Owen T. Carroll Field in a matchup with Drexel for the possibility to start the season 2-0.
