University of Louisville
SETON HALL
Gjini Powers Cards Past Seton Hall 5-1
October 21, 2005 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 21, 2005
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Monique Gjini notched her first career hat trick and added two assists, in compiling a school record eight points and leading the University of Louisville women's soccer team to a 5-1 win over Seton Hall on a cold, rainy Friday night at Cardinal Park.
With the win, the Cardinals are assured of a spot in the 2005 BIG EAST Conference Tournament, and a first round bye. The final regular season slate on Sunday will determine the seedings. The Cards will be either a number two or three seed out of Division B, with the top five seeds in each division advancing to the tournament and the top three seeds earning the bye.
The Cards are currently tied with Villanova for second with 18 points. Villanova and West Virginia will meet on Tuesday, October 25, to make up their match from October 14 which was postponed, in the final regular season match of the season in the BIG EAST. Villanova holds the tiebreaker over the Cardinals with a 3-2 overtime win over the Cards on October 9.
"I am tremendously happy for the players and for the program. This has been our goal all season, to make it into the BIG EAST tournament," said Head Coach Karen Ferguson.
Gjini's electrifying performance played a large role.
"Overall we were very good on all aspects of the game, but Monique was on a different level tonight."
The Cards (11-6-0, 6-4-0 BIG EAST) got on the board first when Jamie Craft took a feed from Gjini and beat Seton Hall keeper Amanda Becker to the low far corner for Craft's 10th goal of the season and a 1-0 Cardinal lead at 12:20.
The Pirates (7-7-3, 3-6-1 BIG EAST) responded in the 20th minute when Deana Waintraub made a stop on Katherine De Tata's shot, but the rebound ricocheted to Oriana Nierojewski who knotted the game at one with her fifth on the year.
Just 84 seconds later it was Gjini again setting up a teammate, as her cross was buried on a nice header by freshman Mallory Lampson for her third of the year, and a 2-1 lead the Cards would never relinquish.
At the 26:44 mark, Gjini picked up her first goal when she took a perfect feed from senior Gina Lower, beat a defender and punched a shot into the upper right corner for a 3-1 U of L lead.
The Cards took that advantage into halftime, despite being outshot 6-5 in the first 45 by Seton Hall.
Gjini drilled home her second goal of the game at the 60:07 mark, unassisted on a rocket from outside the 18 to the far top corner for her sixth on the season.
The sophomore from Edmonton completed the hat trick with her seventh on the season in the 78th minute on another missile, after receiving a feed from Lauren Podvin. The trick was the first for the Cardinals since Craft scored three goals on September 14 last season at Murray State in a 5-3 win.
Gjini had just five shots on the evening to lead the team, as Louisville dominated the second half, outshooting Seton Hall 14-5. Erica Robinson added four shots, two of which were on goal, and Jen Avila added three.
The previous Cardinal record for points in a single game was seven, established by Stephanie Contole, who scored three goals and added an assist in a 5-0 win over Valparaiso on September 14, 1996.
Cardinal keeper Deana Waintraub made six saves in the win over the Pirates, while Becker made eight stops.
Louisville hosts Rutgers, who is tied with DePaul for the fifth and final tournament spot in Division B, on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET at Cardinal Park.
Louisville seniors Kim DeBolt, Heather Shreffler, Hollie Minogue, Ashley Garcia and Gina Lower will be honored in a pregame ceremony in what will be their final regular season home match. Admission is free.
The Cardinals will play either Marquette or West Virginia in the second round of the BIG EAST tournament on Saturday, October 29 or Sunday, October 30.
The semifinals and finals will be held in Milwaukee on November 4-6.
