WSOC Hosts #15/15 DePaul on Thursday
10/1/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Seton Hall Game Notes 
l Live Video ($) l l @SHUWSOCCER on Twitter
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Coming off a two-match road swing to open BIG EAST play, the Seton Hall women's soccer team returns home on Thursday to host the #15/15 DePaul Blue Demons at Owen T. Carroll Field.
The Pirates (3-6-2, 0-2-0 BIG EAST) are looking to regain the form that helped them enter the league portion of their schedule riding a four-match unbeaten streak while DePaul (9-0-2, 1-0-1) stands as one of six remaining unbeaten squads in the nation.
Senior forward Elise Wyatt and new strike partner Abby Reed, an Indiana State transfer, have combined to emerge as one of the most potent attack tandems in the country. Both Wyatt and Reed have tallied eight goals to this point in the season, a mark that places them in a tie atop the BIG EAST and among the top-20 scorers in the nation.
Despite falling in their first two conference matches however, The Hall remains one of the top defensive sides in the league. Head coach Rick Stainton's group has allowed the second-fewest goals (11) in the league is tied for third in goals against average with a team mark of 0.92.
Junior co-captain Emily Hansinger (Mount Laurel, N.J.) has entrenched herself in the center of a deep Seton Hall back line, playing from opening whistle to the final horn in each of the last five matches. Hansinger and her teammates have yielded just three goals in four previous home appearances this season but will face a stiff test from a DePaul squad that stands second in the BIG EAST in goals (28) and assists (27), resulting in a conference-leading total of 83 points.
DePaul will be making its first visit to South Orange since 2011 when The Hall scored a convincing 3-1 win en route to a BIG EAST Tournament berth. In each of the last two seasons, the Blue Demons narrowly edged the Pirates, 1-0, at Wish Field in Chicago but needed extra time to do so in 2013.
Though they remained undefeated, DePaul out-scored Georgetown and Providence by a slim 5-to-4 margin last week in two home matches; allowing the Hoyas to come in and score three goals to earn the draw.
Six different Seton Hall players have found the back of the net this fall and with a number of versatile options and a fluid formation, the Pirates will be keen on starting a new unbeaten run of their own by handing DePaul its first defeat of the season.
Last fall, SHU hosted #25 Butler and handed the Bulldogs a 3-1 loss to pick up its second of three conference victories.
On Thursday, the opening stages of the match could prove critical as DePaul is coming off a 2-to-1 win over the Friars in which they scored twice in the first 12 minutes. Conversely, the Pirates fell at Providence after allowing two scores inside the first five minutes and Seton Hall has trailed at the half in each match it has lost this year.
Start-time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. A live stream will be available on the Pirate Sports Network and you can follow along with @SHUWSOCCER on Twitter.
