No. 6 Pirates Defeat Virginia Tech in Shootout, Advance to Quarterfinals - Seton Hall University Athletics
Cary, N.C. – Senior goalkeeper Andreas Nota (Rome, Italy) made two stops on penalty kicks before calling his own number and stepping up to bury the ...
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No. 6 Pirates Defeat Virginia Tech in Shootout, Advance to Quarterfinals
Virginia Tech 2 Virginia Tech (7-6-4, 5-5-2) Seton Hall 2 Seton Hall (10-1-4, 5-1-2)
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Cary, N.C. – Senior goalkeeper Andreas Nota (Rome, Italy) made two stops on penalty kicks before calling his own number and stepping up to bury the clinching penalty to advance Seton Hall past Virginia Tech 7-6 on PKs and into the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals for the first time since 1988.
The No. 6 seed Pirates will take on the No. 3 seed Indiana Hoosiers on Monday at 5 p.m., at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C with a trip to the College Cup on the line.
The Pirates did their scoring trailing late in each half. Virginia Tech scored first with a Nick Blacklock goal assisted by Jacob Labovitz in the 14th minute. With 26 seconds left to play in the first period, Maurice Williams (West Orange, N.J.) got his head on a James Boote (Southampton, England) free kick to even the score just before half.
The Hokies retook the lead in the 56th minute with Blacklock's second tally assisted again by Labovitz. With a little under 10 minutes remaining and the season on the line, Andrea Borg (Sliema, Malta) stepped up in a big way. Off of a Boote corner, the ball was loose in front of the net when Borg was able to get his foot to it and find the equalizer for the Pirates.
The teams traded opportunities with the remaining time in regulation, but the game headed for OT. Both overtime periods were largely uneventful with the Hokies outshooting the Pirates 2-1. With no winner after 110 minutes, both teams readied for PKs.
Turning Point
After seven rounds of penalties, the score was still tied 6-6 with each keeper making a stop. Johannes Pex (Stephansposching, Germany), CJ Tibbling (Jarna, Sweden), Boote, JP Marin (Briarwood, N.Y.), Borg, and Eden O'Leary (Tel Aviv, Israel) all converted for the Pirates to that point. Facing his eighth penalty kick, Nota came up with a crucial stop to give the Pirates a chance to win the game. Nota then called his own number to take the eighth penalty for the Pirates. After spending 110-plus minutes trying to stop the ball from going into the net, Nota struck one past the Hokie keeper to send the Pirates to the NCAA Quarterfinals.
Goals
14' - Blacklock (3) from Labovitz
45' - Williams (4) – from Boote
55' – Blacklock (4) – from Labovitz
81' – Borg (1)
Inside the Numbers
- Seton Hall had the better of the opportunities with 24 shots to Virginia Tech's nine. The Pirates also had the advantage in shots on goal, 11-5.
- For the second consecutive game, the Pirates had six corners and while holding their opponent to just one.
- Boote, Williams, Pex, Luca Dahn (Kahl, Germany) and Denis Kelmendi (Falkenberg, Sweden) played the full 110 minutes for the Pirates.
- This is the Pirates first shootout victory in the NCAA Tournament since they beat Adelphi on penalty kicks in 1991.
- The goal for Williams was his third of the year while Boote picked up his ninth assist of the year and eight in the last nine games.
- Borg's goal was his first of the season after tallying twice last season.
- Coincidentally, in the Pirates' only other quarterfinals appearance in 1988, the Pirates faced Indiana. The Hoosiers would defeat the Pirates by a score of 3-1 and eventually go on to win the national championship.
No. 6 Seton Hall will now head to the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals and will face No. 3 seed Indiana on Monday, May 10, at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m., and the game will be streamed on NCAA.com.