With a dangerous nor’easter slowly approaching New Jersey, Seton Hall’s women’s soccer hosted Xavier University for a downcast Saturday afternoon game at Owen T. Carroll Field on Oct. 11.
Last time out, SHU suffered a 2-0 road loss to Providence College. The Pirates managed just three shots on the game en route to their fourth loss on the season and third in conference play.
Xavier, on the other hand, entered this game on a 11-game unbeaten streak (nine wins, two draws), having just earned a 1-0 home win over Butler University last week. With the win, the Musketeers jumped from 22nd to the 20th best team in the nation in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll. With a 4-0-1 conference record, they trail only No.16 Georgetown University for most wins in the BIG EAST so far this season.
Early in the first half, Xavier made it clear why they are ranked so highly: the Musketeers scored with their first and second shots of the game, as they took a 2-0 lead within the opening 10 minutes. Scored by Xavier senior forward Regan Dancer and sophomore forward Samantha Erbach respectively, both goals came from well-placed crosses into the box, each finding a Musketeer waiting at the backpost.
Erbach had another chance to score in the first half after Xavier was awarded a penalty kick and she stepped up to take it. Erbach’s attempt, however, was saved by SHU sophomore goalkeeper Avery Strohecker to keep the score at 2-0, which remained as such until halftime.
It was a dominant first half for Xavier, as they managed eight shots, six of them on goal, and earned 10 corner kicks. Meanwhile, the Pirates failed to register either of those statistics in the half, with them spending a majority of it on the backfoot.
It was more of the same from Xavier in the second half, with them scoring early on once again: less than a minute into the half, Erbach scored her second goal of the game with an assist from senior forwards Emma Flick and Elin Hansson.
Although now down 3-0, SHU—or more specifically, junior forward Adria Kitzinger—responded not shortly after: in the 46th minute, freshman defender Ava Lozada found Kitzinger to make it 3-1 and to prevent Xavier from earning their eighth shutout of the season.
Kitzinger wasn’t done scoring, as she then scored a penalty kick just a minute later to make it 3-2. With Kitzinger’ two quick goals in rapid succession, the game took a more competitive turn, with it now within reach for the Pirates.
And yet, this was short-lived, as Erbach then scored her third goal of the game and 11th of the season to give Xavier back their two-goal lead in the 50th minute. Coming into this game, Erbach led the BIG EAST with 26 points with eight goals and 10 assists.
Two minutes later, senior defender Natalie Bain scored Xavier’s fifth goal of the game, effectively sealing the win for them. Although there was still roughly 40 minutes left in the game when Bain scored, the Pirates were unable to create any more quality chances in the second half, as they fell 5-2.
At fulltime, Xavier outshot SHU 20-to-4, with over half of those shots being on goal. They also nearly doubled their first-half corner kick total, as they finished 19 on the game, while the Pirates failed to register a single one.
With the loss, the Pirates fall to 3-5-5 on the season and have yet to earn a win in conference play this season.
They will have another chance to do so on Oct. 15, as they return to Owen T. Carroll Field to host the DePaul University Blue Demons.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor of The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
