Pirates Host Georgetown to Open BIG EAST Play - Seton Hall University Athletics
South Orange, N.J. – Seton Hall men's soccer opens up BIG EAST play on Friday night as it welcomes the Georgetown Hoyas to town. Kick off is set for 6:56 p...
South Orange, N.J. – Seton Hall men's soccer opens up BIG EAST play on Friday night as it welcomes the Georgetown Hoyas to town. Kick off is set for 6:56 p.m. on the BIG EAST Digital Network with John Fanta and Isis Young on the call.
LAST TIME OUT
The Pirates were handed their first draw of the year on the road at Harvard. Andrea Borg (Sliema, Malta) scored his second goal of the season in the early going, and the Pirates looked destined to put up another shutout victory. However, Harvard equalized in the 90th minute off a set piece to secure the 1-1 draw.
NEW LOOK BIG EAST IN 2023
With the addition of Akron as a BIG EAST affiliate member, the BIG EAST has been split into two divisions for men's soccer. Seton Hall has been placed in the East Division alongside UConn, Georgetown, Providence, St. John's and Villanova. The Midwest Division consists of Akron, Butler, Creighton, DePaul, Marquette and Xavier.
Given this new format, the number of teams qualifying for the BIG EAST Tournament will increase from six to eight. Each division winner will receive a top two seed, with the remaining six berths determined by conference point total. Teams will no longer receive byes to the semifinal round, meaning the top two seeds will now host quarterfinal games at campus sites. For the second straight year, the semifinal and final will take place at Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Md.
SCOUTING GEORGETOWN
- The Hoyas will be playing their first match in 11 days after their game against Maryland this past Friday was postponed.
- Georgetown enters play averaging 2.75 goals per game, good enough for second in the BIG EAST. However, they have also conceded 2.75 goals per match which ranks last in the conference.
- The Hoyas sit just on the outside of the United Soccer Coaches poll but are ranked 17th in the TopDrawerSoccer poll.
- Georgetown leads the all-time series, 23-17-4, and has won the last two meetings. The Hoyas last came to South Orange during the 2021 season when they were ranked No. 1 in the nation, handing the Pirates a 4-2 defeat.
- The Pirates have allowed just two goals through their first five matches of the season, doing so for the first time since 1957.
- Seton Hall did not allow a goal through the first 332:38 of the season before conceding against No. 10 Indiana. This set a new program record for longest shutout streak to begin a season, previously set back in 2005.
- The Pirates are 4-1 in BIG EAST home openers under Andreas Lindberg
- Seton Hall is unbeaten over its last nine home matches dating back to the start of the 2022 season (5-0-4).
- Last week, the Pirates were ranked No. 23 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, entering the rankings for the first time since Sep. 14, 2021.
- Seton Hall opened the season with a 3-0 record for the first time since 2008.
- James Boote (Southampton, England) scored goals in back-to-back matches to open the season after entering the season with just one goal scored in his previous 65 career games.
- With the season opening win over Rider on Aug. 24, the Pirates improved to 5-0-3 in season openers dating back to 2016.
- Mats Roorda (Groningen, Netherlands) was named BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week on Aug. 28 for his efforts in posting a pair of shutouts against Rider and Air Force. Boote was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after his five-point week.
- The Pirates face another challenging slate of matches in 2023, highlighted by five teams who made the NCAA Tournament last season. Included in those are matchups with Indiana and Creighton, both of whom made it all the way to the College Cup last fall.
- The Hall welcome 12 new faces to the program, including several potential impact transfers: Rikard Cederberg (Bellarmine), Mats Roorda (Binghamton), Jared Smith (Quinnipiac) and Tim Strobeck (Clemson).
- Three Pirates are capitalizing on their extra year of eligibility to return to Seton Hall as graduate students in 2023. James Boote, Andrea Borg and Hugo Keller will all suit back up for The Hall this season. All told, 19 players from last year's squad are back for the Pirates in 2023.
- Starting this season, the Pirates will be vying to finish inside the top-eight in the BIG EAST standings. With the addition of Akron to the league as a men's soccer affiliate member, the now-12 team conference has been split into an East Division and Midwest Division. Each division winner will qualify for the BIG EAST Championship, with the next six best teams based on conference points solidifying the remaining berths.
- Seton Hall was picked to finish fourth in the East Division. The Pirates received 36 points in the poll and sit behind third-place St. John's (40 points), second-place Providence (56 points) and first-place Georgetown (66 points).
- The Pirates finished last season in second place in the BIG EAST standings after amassing 17 points during conference play. The second place finish in the program's best since winning the regular season title back in 1991, while the 17 points in league action were the program's most since 2006.
All BEDN events can be seen on FloSports, one of the leading streaming services in the world. Special Seton Hall pricing is available only through this link for fans who want to subscribe to watch Seton Hall events, home and away, as well as all other live events on the FloSports platform. Fans with a .edu school address can purchase a subscription for $6.99 per month, and all other fans can purchase a subscription for $12.50 per month. The non-Seton Hall pricing on FloSports is normally $29.99 per month.
The link to watch all Seton Hall Men's Soccer games can be found here.
