Aug. 31, 2007

Box Score

In the second game of a doubleheader on Friday afternoon, Seton Hall (1-0) defeated Virginia Commonwealth (0-1) by a final of 4-0 at the West Campus Soccer Complex at Villanova University. The teams are playing in this weekend's Villanova Tournament. In the opening game, the host Wildcats defeated Lafayette 3-0.

The entire first half featured only a combined eight shots but the Pirates scored on three of their five chances to take a convincing lead. Alli Donofrio scored from in front in the 11th minute to open the scoring. Keri O'Donnell scored the second goal in the 34th minute to finish off a give-and-go with Katie Andreski.

Ashley Reinecke had two goals for Seton Hall, scoring in the 39th minute to round out the first half scoring and adding the lone goal of the second half late in the 78th minute.

The Rams stepped up their offensive pressure in the second half to try and make a run, registering 13 of its 16 shots in the game after halftime. Virginia Commonwealth wound up with a 16-10 shot advantage thanks to that aggressiveness, but came up empty as Pirate goalkeeper Amanda Becker made nine saves.

The play of the Seton Hall defense forced the Rams to take many of their shots from well outside the top of the box. VCU took eight corner kicks compared to five for the Pirates. Emily Niman made two saves in the losing effort.

During the second and final day of tournament play on Sunday, Seton Hall takes on Lafayette at 11 a.m. and Villanova hosts Virginia Commonwealth at 2 p.m.