Seton Hall fell short in their second Big East regular season game after St. John's defeated them 2-1 in overtime on Sunday.
It was the Pirates' second loss of the season after losing their Big East opener at Georgetown by a 4-0 scoreline. Laura Hooper was the lone goal scorer for the Pirates.
Goals
30': St. John's Jessice Garziano was called for a hand ball 35 yards out from goal as the Redstorm attempted to clear the ball from their half. Abbie Roberts and Hooper stepped up to take what seemed to be a set piece play to get the ball into the box for a header, but Roberts rolled the ball into play for Hooper to smash into the net off the cross bar.
43': An errant pass on the right wing by Seton Hall led to St. John's playing the ball inside to Maia Cabrera, who then beat her defender to get the ball onto her right foot. Just as Hooper had done just 13 minutes before, Cabrera fired a long-range shot into the net off of the cross bar to level the score just before half time.
96': Off a throw-in, Cabrera once again turned into midfield and took a few dribbles towards goal before slipping a through ball in behind Seton Hall's back line. Zsani Kajan beat the Pirates' defense to get to the ball and slip her shot past Grace Gordon for the overtime winner.
Breakdown
The Redstorm expectedly dominated possession and time on the ball in Seton Hall's defensive half. The Pirates did well to stay defesnively sound against a free-scoring St. John's side who had registered 11 goals scored in their last four games.
Seton Hall took advantage of an unnecessary hand ball by St. John's through Hooper's goal, but a defensive mistake playing out of the back opened the door for Cabrera's equalizer. Roberts, who was at the heart of the Pirates' defense, kept her back line tight for the remainder of regulation time and helped send the game into overtime.
Roberts was just one of three Pirates to play the entirety of the match along with Gordon and Dani Brinckman. Roberts also registered a shot on target through a free kick in the game as she continued to appear over the ball off long-range set pieces for Seton Hall.
The two squads remained knotted at one for the entire second half, but a well played ball from Cabrera completely dismantled a staunch Pirates defense to create the game-winning goal for St. John's.
Seton Hall returns to action on Thursday for their first Big East home game of the season against Providence at 6 p.m.
Jenna Powell can be reached at jenna.powell@student.shu.edu.
