After a persistent battle, the Seton Hall women’s soccer team suffered a 3-1 loss to Georgetown University on Wednesday at Owen T. Carroll Field.
Despite a slow start, Seton Hall showed flashes early: Junior midfielder Gianna Angelillo and sophomore defender Shea Boyle were instrumental, with Boyle contributing defensively, and Angelillo pushing forward with energy. Both players worked to set the tone and keep the Pirates engaged in the opening minutes.
Georgetown tested the Pirates’ back line in the first half, but freshman goalkeeper Kate Kleinsmith made some key saves In the 26th minute, she blocked an attempted shot by Georgetown’s Isabela Boodel, then had an amazing diving save to block another. Each stop was greeted with energy from the sideline, and for a while it felt like SHU might be able to shift the momentum in their favor.
The deadlock was broken with 15 minutes left in the first half when Georgetown senior forward Natalie Means found the back of the net, assisted by Tippins and sophomore midfielder Lizzie Heller.
The goal seemed to rattle SHU , and just three minutes later, Georgetown graduate forward Maja Lardner doubled Georgetown’s lead with help from Heller once again. . Suddenly, the Pirates found themselves down 2-0, and the Hoyas with all the momentum.
Even so, the Pirates battled through the rest of the half, as they made key defensive stops and pushed the ball upfield. Although they went into halftime trailing 2-0, they did well to limit further damage.
In addition to the score, the Pirates also trailed in shots attempted in the first half, with the Hoyas recording seven to SHU’s one.
SHU struck first early in the second half as Angelillo scored her sixth goal of the season via penalty kick, which gave the Pirates a much-needed spark. With the score now 2-1 with an entire half to play, both SHU’s players and fans felt that a comeback was possible. The energy on the field and in the stands picked up, and the Pirates looked to score an equalizer.
But Georgetown pushed back with vigorous offense and responded just 10 minutes later, courtesy of senior midfielder Shay Montgomery. The goal deflated the Pirates’ momentum and allowed the Hoyas to regain control. From there, Georgetown controlled much of the tempo, leveraging possession and limiting SHU’s chances.
The last 30 minutes of the match was a lot of back and forth between the teams, especially with the Pirates fighting to stay in the game. They moved the ball well at times and tried to create space up top, but the Hoyas’ defense held strong. In the end, the Hoyas managed to prevent a SHU comeback, as the Pirates fell to them, 3-1.
At full time, the Hoyas recorded 14 total shots in the game, with half of them being on goal. Meanwhile, the Pirates managed just four total shots, with three of them being on goal and quality chances.
Despite the loss, Kleinsmith managed to save four of the seven goal attempts the Hoyas had in the second half. On the other side, Georgetown senior goalkeeper Cara Martinkeeper made two saves in a quieter night for her, thanks to her team’s ability to keep possession and apply pressure.
SHU remains at 3-3-4 overall and are now 0-2-0 in conference play. While the Pirates generated solid possession and created some early chances, Georgetown’s performance was just too much for them. Kleinsmith’s standout effort kept the game from becoming a blowout, but SHU ultimately couldn’t claw back, leaving them still searching for their first Big East win of the season.
Another opportunity to do so will come on Saturday, as they return to Owen T. Carroll Field to host St. John’s University in their third game of conference play.
Isabella Spina is a writer for The Setonian’s Sports section. They can be reached at isabella.spina@student.shu.edu.
