Before Oct. 5 Marquette women’s soccer had not lost at home against Seton Hall in the entirety of its matchup history.
That all changed Thursday night when the Pirates (6-5-2, 2-2-1 Big East) defeated the Golden Eagles (5-6-3, 2-2-1) 1-0 at Valley Fields.
“Credit to them,” Marquette head coach Frank Pelaez said. “They’re a good team. They’re on a roll. They play strong defense. They do really well possessing the ball and getting forward. They caught us off guard with one opportunity that was dangerous, and they scored off of it.
“We came out a little flat, but then we picked it up in the second half. We were able to try to get balls in the box in the box a little bit more and create some opportunities. It just wasn’t our night tonight.”
With the loss, Marquette is tied with Seton Hall for fifth place in the Big East.
Pirates’ pivotal goal
For the majority of the first half, it was all quiet offensively for both sides, until it wasn’t.
In the 33rd minute, junior forward Sophia Liston found herself on a breakaway on the right side of the field, dribbling into the box and firing the ball into the back of the net to give Seton Hall the lead.
We’re up a goal at the break. Let’s finish strong 💪#HALLin 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/BS1qQvpXAq
— Seton Hall Women’s Soccer (@SHUWSOC) October 6, 2023
The goal, assisted by junior midfielder Natalie Tavana and senior midfielder Maille McDermott, marked Liston’s first of the season.
“When you’re down a goal, your back’s against the wall. You better come out fighting,” Pelaez said. “We possessed the ball somewhat, maybe a little too much for my liking because I wanted to get behind their backs early. We weren’t able to do that because they weren’t allowing us to do it.”
Marquette was unable to respond and went into the locker room trailing 1-0, despite outshooting Seton Hall 4-2 in the half.
The Golden Eagles also could not equalize in the final 45 minutes and were shutout for the eighth time this season. They finished with 11 shots compared to the Pirates’ five.
Statistical leaders
Junior forward Kate Gibson and first-year forward Taylor Schad each recorded two shots on the night, while senior midfielder Isa Cook tallied three shots with one on target. Senior goalkeeper Mikki Easter recorded four saves on the night.
For Seton Hall, Liston had the lone goal of the match. Tavana, who leads the Big East in total goals (10) and goals per game (0.91), recorded two shots on goal.
Up next
Marquette is back in action Oct. 12 on the road against Providence (7-2-2, 2-0-2 Big East). Kick-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. CST.
“We’re going to keep working on finishing and getting balls in the box,” Pelaez said. “Providence is another really good team that’s hot right now. Everyone’s hot in the Big East right now. I have to remind them (Marquette) every day that we have an opportunity every time that we’re out here, and we’ll get through it.”
This story was written by Kaylynn Wright. She can be reached at @[email protected] or on Twitter @KaylynnWrightMU.
