Pirates Head to SJU for Pivotal BIG EAST Match
10/26/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 26, 2013
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - The Seton Hall women's soccer team heads to Queens for a pivotal matchup with St. John's tonight as the Pirates continue to battle for postseason position in their penultimate regular season contest.
The Hall (5-9-2, 3-4-0) enters the weekend tied with Butler, whom they defeated 3-1 earlier this season, for the fifth-most points in the conference (9) while SJU is just one point behind after going 2-3-2 in their first seven conference games.
The top six teams advance to the BIG EAST Tournament.
SHU is coming off a week in which it split a pair of home games against Marquette and Villanova. The #20/#10 Golden Eagles handed the Pirates their eighth one-goal loss of the season with a 1-0 win but Seton Hall bounced back to explode for five goals on Senior Day against the wildcats, shutting out VU for the fourth consecutive year.
the five goals came from five different players as seniors Ashley Clarke (Paramus, N.J.), Katie Ritter (Hagerstown, Md.), and Brittney Albrecht (Mahwah, N.J.) found the back of the net in their final regular season home game while sophomore Alexis Urbanski (Aberdeen, N.J.) and junior Angie Shehaj (East Brunswick, N.J.) added goals as well.
Freshman Sarah Cortes (Paramus, N.J.) was named BIG EAST Rookie of the Week after tallying three assists in an eight-minute span in the second half. She now has six points on the season, the third-highest total on the team and became the fourth different Pirate to be honored by the conference this year.
Goalkeeper Jennifer Pettigrew (Kearny, N.J.) made two stops against Villanova to record her fourth shutout of 2013 and the 10th of her career.
SHU has come up empty in its first six attempts at scoring a road victory and will take on a Red Storm squad that is coming off a 3-2 victory over Providence. SJU is unbeaten in its last 10 home games and owns a 12-5-1 all-time advantage over the Pirates, including a 4-0 win when the teams met last season.
The stout Seton Hall defense which has only allowed more than one goal a single time in conference play will need to key on St. John's sophomore Rachel Daly who has emerged as one of the most dangerous offensive players in the nation and ranks by far as the BIG EAST leader in points (36) and goals (17), six of which have come against conference competition.
With SJU on eight points and the Pirates on nine with a trip to nationally-ranked Georgetown on the slate next week, tonight's matchup could go a long way towards determining which team earns a berth in the conference championship.
Kick-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
