The Red Storm women’s soccer team put an end to its four-game losing streak with a 2-0 victory over the Seton Hall Pirates on Sunday. The two first half goals equaled the number of goals scored during the three-week slide that included three shutout losses.”It all kind of clicked,” said head coach Ian Stone, who added that his team was well aware that they were in need of a win.
The Red Storm improved its record to 9-5-2 overall and 4-5-0 in the Big East.
“There was some soul searching going on Saturday,” Stone said. “And we talked Sunday morning about concentrating on playing our game.”
The Storm got out to a lead in the 7th minute on a drawn-out give-and-go play that ended with senior forward Krystle Jalalian’s sixth goal of the year.
Jalalian won the ball near the middle of the field before passing it off to sophomore Sarah McGrath. McGrath ran at the defense before laying it back to Jalalian just inside the box. Jalalian hit a low shot past Seton Hall goalkeeper Kristen Burch for the goal.
“The keeper really had no [chance] because of the placement and the power,” Stone said.
The second goal came just nine minutes after Jalalian’s. After freshman Maria DeMatteo beat the Pirates’ last defender, she challenged Burch. Burch made the save but the rebound slipped out to freshman midfielder Raelynne Lee who finished.
Despite the increase in scoring, Stone said it was the defense that made the biggest improvement on Sunday, compared to the way they played during their slide. “We defended much more effectively than we had been doing,” Stone said. “Even though Seton Hall was able to possess the ball a little bit in the second half, they never really looked like [they had a solid scoring opportunity].”
Red Storm goalkeeper Jaime Beran recorded seven saves. For the senior, it was the second consecutive complete game after splitting time for most of the season with junior Rebecca Capinera.
The Red Storm will finish up its regular season next weekend against Connecticut on Friday night and Providence on Sunday afternoon.
