Hall Travels to Stony Brook Thursday
9/3/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Thursday marks the beginning of an extended road-swing for the Seton Hall women's soccer squad as the Pirates will travel to Stony Brook to take on the Seawolves in the first of three consecutive contests away from home.
Through the first two weeks of the 2014 campaign, The Hall (1-3) has asserted itself as one of the strongest defensive sides in the BIG EAST Conference. With just three goals allowed over the first four outings, the Pirates rank third in the league in goals allowed and stand as one of three BIG EAST squads yet to allow more than one goal in a game.
A starting back line of Melissa Blevins (Laurel Springs, N.J.), team co-captain Emily Hansinger (Mount Laurel, N.J.), Andrea Palermo (Caledon, Ontario) and Alyssa Stipcak (Mt. Airy, Md.) have led a deep unit that has assisted in limiting quality opportunities, but Seton Hall has been the beneficiary of stellar play between the posts as well.
Sophomore Illissa Blackshear (West Orange, N.J.) followed up a spotless 45 minutes in her collegiate debut at Rutgers with an impressive eight-save performance against Monmouth last time out. Heading into the matchup with the Seawolves, Blackshear is ranked eighth in the league with 10 stops in limited playing time and boasts a .909 save percentage that is second-best in the conference.
All told, Blackshear and junior Gina Maiorana (Street, Md.) have combined to stop 17 of the 20 shots they have faced for the Pirates this season.
Offensively, sophomore Frankie Maier (Oradell, N.J.) continues to drive the attack for The Hall, routinely providing service while ranking first on the team with nine shots. Maier and the rest of the squad will look to get on the board early on Thursday as all three of the team's goals allowed have resulted in 1-0 first half deficits.
The Pirates will be making their first-ever trip to Stony Brook where the Seawolves (1-3) downed Delaware State, 1-0, in their lone home appearance to this point in the season. The victory followed a 3-1 loss at Rutgers in the season opener but Stony Brook has since dropped consecutive decisions at Siena and Wagner.
West Orange native Raven Edwards tallied two goals in the loss to the Saints and holds the team-lead with four points through four games. The reigning America East regular season champions, Stony Brook has been outscored by a combined 8-to-4 however and will look to one again find success at home where the Seawolves are 15-2-3 (.825) since 2012.
Last fall, the Pirates met Stony Brook in the season opener and came back to erase an early two-goal lead for the Seawolves; earning a draw at Owen T. Carroll Field. It was the first meeting between the two squads since 1994, the inaugural season of women's soccer at The Hall.
Start time on Thursday is slated for 7:00 p.m. from LaValle Stadium. A live radio broadcast can be heard on 89.5 WSOU FM. For in-game updates, follow @SetonHallSoccer on Twitter.
