The women's soccer team lost its second straight game at home on Sunday to the University of South Florida Bulls, 1-0.
The Pirates were aggressive defensively, fending off numerous counter attacks set up by the Bulls, but the lack of offense caught up with the Pirates. One of the main bright spots for Seton Hall was goalkeeper Alyssa Kelly.
Kelly was faced with five shots on goal, letting up only one. On the lone goal, scored in the 65th minute, Kelly was stuck in a tough position and made a great effort to try stop forward, Sharla Passariello's shot that landed in the bottom right corner. Passariello was left wide open in front of net as she received a cross from midfielder, Taylor Patterson and all she had to do was place the ball away.
"Those are tough shots for keepers because you're waiting for the cross and they slot you back and you're caught going all the way across the goal," Kelly said about the only goal.
The Pirates offense has continued with their struggles, scoring only two goals in five games. Their best chance of the day came in the seventy-fifth minute when red-shirt senior Stephanie Soma received a cross just outside the 6-yard box and volleyed her chance just over the crossbar.
"I thought we competed very well today, head coach Kazbek Tambi said. "I thought we could have been a little better in the offensive third to create a few more chances than we did. It's kind of an unfortunate result because we didn't dominate the game but, on the other side of the equation I don't think the other team deserved to win."
The Pirates have now fallen to 1-4 in Big East play, and are scheduled to take on Syracuse next weekend. The Pirates have a chance to get their momentum back so they can make a push to qualify for the Big East tournament in November.
"We collectively need to get better and have a strong week of training," Tambi said. "We have to come after Syracuse and look to get back on the winning road."
Kenny Lenoci can be reached at Kenneth.lenoci@student.shu.edu
