Blackshear Earns Second Goalkeeper of the Week Award
10/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
NEW YORK - After helping the Pirates earn a split of conference matches against Marquette and DePaul last week, Seton Hall junior goalkeeper Illissa Blackshear (West Orange, N.J.) was named to the BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week on Monday.
The nod marks the second weekly honor for Blackshear in the three weeks since she returned to action and follows her first career BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week selection which came on September 21.
Blackshear is the first Seton Hall keeper to earn two such awards in the same season since Elizabeth Bond in 2011 and one of four SHU keepers to be recognized twice in the same year all-time.
In a 1-0 victory over the Golden Eagles on Thursday, Blackshear recorded six saves en route to her seventh shutout in the last two seasons. The win was the first all-time for The Hall in the series with Marquette - a team that found the back of the net five times in its lone conference match prior to the meeting with the Pirates.
Reigning BIG EAST champions DePaul brought four of the league's top-10 scorers into Sunday's matchup in Chicago but Blackshear once again shone against a high-powered attack; matching a career-high with eight stops in a narrow 1-0 loss. The junior was nearly unbeatable despite a furious second half push from the Blue Demons, totaling seven saves in the final period alone.
Only a direct free kick from Madeline Frick in the 79th minute proved to be the difference but Blackshear and the Seton Hall defense have now gone 210 minutes without conceding in the run of play. The junior has also now held DePaul to a single goal in a pair of starts over the last two seasons - a span that has seen DPU limited to just one score on only one other occasion in league play.
A standout performer for The Hall last season, Blackshear has picked up right where she left off despite missing the first seven contests of the year. In four starts she has registered two clean sheets and allowed more than one goal just once; averaging 4.50 saves/match in the process.
Blackshear has now held the opposition to one goal or less in 15 of her 20 career appearances for Seton Hall and will enter this week's match with Creighton without a goal allowed in 258 minutes of action at home this season (3 GP).
Seton Hall and the Bluejays played to a 1-1 draw in Omaha last season and kick-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. when Creighton visits South Orange on Thursday. The match can be seen live on the BIG EAST Digital Network and the FOX Sports GO app.
