On Oct. 26, the Seton Hall women’s soccer team played their last game of the season against University of Connecticut at Owen T. Carroll Field in South Orange, N.J.
The game started off with the Pirates and Huskies playing tug of war. UConn led the first half in shots, 6-3. During the 36th minute, junior Husky Laci Lewis was taken down in the box. This gave UConn a penalty kick that was taken by graduate student Emma Zaccagnini, who made the shot for her first goal of the season.
The Pirates continued to fight going into the second half. Coach Josh Osit moved junior diplomacy major Chiara Pucci from her typical center back position to the midfield. Pucci led the offense, pushing against Uconn’s defense towards the end of the match.
The Pirates’ deficit doubled in the 72nd minute of play. UConn graduate student Jessica Mazo took a long distance shot on goal, which bounced off the crossbar and ricocheted across the goal line.
The last 10 minutes of play saw two Pirates receive yellow cards: freshman Adria Kitzinger in the 82nd minute and Pucci in the last minute of play.
The game concluded with the Huskies leading the game in shots, 16-5. The junior english and philosophy major Anna Prawer recorded seven saves for the Pirates. She ended the season with 38 saves. UConn led the game in corners as well, ending 6-1.
Junior criminal justice major Natalie Tavana ended this season as the Big East’s goal scoring champion. Tavana had 12 total goals this season, five of which were scored during Big East play. She had 26 points on the season, climbing the ranks of Seton Hall record books.
Senior criminal justice major Skyler Matusz also impressed. She finished the season with five assists, which tied her for the fifth most in program history and her personal career high.
The game ended with the Pirates losing 2-0 to the Huskies. This loss ended their season with just missing the BIG EAST women soccer playoffs. The team's record this season was 6-7-5, and 2-4-4 in conference play. The Pirates will return next season, hungry to make the Big East playoffs once again.
The team saw many highs during the season despite this loss, with one being the most points scored in BIG EAST conference play since 2011, which was the last time the Pirates went to the BIG EAST playoffs.
Beth Berardi can be reached at beth.berardi@student.shu.edu.
