No. 11 Pirates Power Past No. 17 Marquette into the BIG EAST Final - Seton Hall University Athletics
The Pirates pounced on the Golden Eagles and ran away with a 4-1 win to earn a spot in Saturday's BIG EAST Championship final.
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WASHINGTON - The No. 11 Seton Hall men's soccer team, returning to the BIG EAST Tournament for the first time since 2012, came out with a vengeance, scoring two goals in the first nine minutes of its semifinal match with No. 17 Marquette and going on to defeat the Golden Eagles, 4-1, Thursday at Shaw Field on the campus Georgetown University. The Pirates advance to the BIG EAST final for the first time since 2004 and will face top-seeded and No. 2 ranked Georgetown Saturday at Shaw Field, live on FS2 and the FOX Sports app.
Junior Maurice Williams (West Orange, N.J.) scored two goals, including the game-winner, freshman Mattias Almeida Sundell (Sweden) scored a goal and assisted on two others, junior CJ Tibbling (Sweden) put up a goal and an assist and sophomore James Boote (England) assisted on a pair of tallies.
Turning Point
It was all Pirates on the afternoon, and they made their presence known immediately with offensive pressure. Sundell took a pass from Tibbling and didn't delay in trying to dribble pass defenders. Instead he took a powerful and swift left-footed kick from about 25 yards out and buried the ball past the diving Marquette keeper. The Pirates continued to have the better of the possession, and only three minutes later, earned a free kick just outside the box. Boote took the kick, which was blocked by Marquette's wall, but the rebound found Sundell, who then popped a cross into the box, where Williams was waiting with a powerful header punch past the keeper and a commanding 2-0 lead.
Goals
6' – Sundell (1) from Tibbling – a left-footed strike approximately 25 yards from the net past the keeper's top left corner
9' – Williams (2) from Sundell & Boote – Boote's free kick blocked, Sundell feeds rebound to Williams deep in the box & Williams punches a header from far to near post
59' – Williams (3) from Boote – Boote's free kick curves in to back post, Williams heads in past keeper's right
60' – Tibbling (5) from Sundell – Sundell feeds Tibbling in the box, takes left-footed shot from 10 yards out & buries it top-near post
73' – Thornton (1) from Sunesson – Sunesson's ground cross into the box finds open Thornton, who one-times it with right foot past keeper
Inside the Numbers
- The four goals were a team season high for the Pirates. Seton Hall's last four-goal match came on Sept. 24, 2019 at NJIT.
- Shots were 12-11 in Seton Hall's favor, and the Pirates converted four of their five shots on goal.
- Sundell's goal was his first career tally, and he added his second and third assists on the year.
- Williams picked up his second and third goals of the season and has now scored in back-to-back matches.
- The two assists for Boote were his sixth and seventh of the season and six in six matches. All seven of Boote's assists this year have come from set pieces.
- Tibbling notched his team-leading fifth goal of the season and now has a team-leading 12 points.
- Senior Andreas Nota (Italy) made six saves in the win.
- Nota, Williams, junior Luca Dahn (Germany), sophomores Denis Kelmendi (Sweden) Johannes Pex all played 90 minutes.
- Seton Hall's record on the season is now 8-1-3, and Marquette falls to 8-2-1. The Pirates have now defeated the Golden Eagles in three straight matchups; in 2018 at home, 2019 at Marquette and now in 2021 on a neutral site. This also was the first time Seton Hall and Marquette have ever matched up in the BIG EAST Tournament.
- This was Seton Hall's second win over a nationally ranked opponent this season and first win specifically against the No. 17 team in the country since Nov. 1, 1995 vs. St. John's.
- After earning a berth in the BIG EAST Tournament for the first time since 2012, the Pirates are now back in the tournament final for the first time since 2004. It will be the program's 10th all-time appearance in the championship game with four title victories (1986, 1987, 1988, 1991).
- Seton Hall and Georgetown have met in the BIG EAST Tournament three previous times: the Pirates beat the Hoyas in the 1988 semifinals, 2-0, on their way to a title; they lost to the Hoyas in the 1994 semifinals, 2-1, and they beat the Hoyas in the 2004 semifinals, 1-0 in overtime.
A trophy and an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament is on the line Saturday when Seton Hall and Georgetown clash at Shaw Field at 3 p.m. The game will be nationally televised on FS2 and the FOX Sports app with John Fanta and Tom Greaser on the call.
