Pirates Set for Road Test at No. 5 Akron on Friday Night - Seton Hall University Athletics
Akron, Ohio – The Pirates face perhaps their toughest test to date on Friday night as they travel to take on No. 5 Akron at 7 p.m. Coverage can be seen on ...
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Akron, Ohio – The Pirates face perhaps their toughest test to date on Friday night as they travel to take on No. 5 Akron at 7 p.m. Coverage can be seen on the BIG EAST Digital Network on FloFC.
LAST TIME OUT
For the second straight match, the Pirates buried four goals en route to a 4-2 victory over UConn on Saturday night. Two of the goals belonged to Rikard Cederberg (Gothenburg, Sweden), scoring for the first time in his career. James Boote (Southampton, England) and Hugo Gerbore (Moelan Sur Mer, France) added the other tallies for the Pirates, with Boote also chipping in with a pair of assists.
SCOUTING AKRON (5-0-4, 0-0-2 BIG EAST)
- The Zips are in their first season as a BIG EAST affiliate member in men's soccer, drawing their first two conference matches against Providence and St. John's.
- Akron enters play ranked No. 5 in the nation by United Soccer Coaches.
- This matchup pits two elite defense against each other, with both squads ranking inside the top-20 nationally in goals against average. The Zips are tied for 11th in the country, while the Pirates are tied for 20th.
- The Zips also present a high octane attack, ranking second in the nation in total shots per game (18.7) and fourth in the country in shots on goal per game (7.6).
- This is just the second all-time meeting between the two schools, with Akron taking the first matchup, 4-2, back on Aug. 31, 2003.
- The Pirates are seeking their first true road win over a top-five team in the nation since beating No. 2 Georgetown to win the 2020 BIG EAST Tournament title back on Apr. 17, 2021.
- Seton Hall is attempting to defeat a top-10 team in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2002-2003. The Pirates defeated No. 6 UConn on 8/30/02 before taking down No. 6 St. John's on 9/24/03.
- The Pirates have scored four goals in back-to-back matches for the first time since 2007
- 9/30/07 – Defeated Rutgers, 4-1
- 10/6/07 – Defeated Marquette, 5-1
- In last Tuesday's 4-1 win over Bucknell, a pair of Pirate reserves (Berglund, Smith) found the back of the net. This marked the first time since Sept. 10, 2021 that two Seton Hall substitutes scored in a match.
- 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 rank inside the top-25 nationally in goals allowed average (T-20th, 0.750), assists per game (21st, 2.25) and save percentage (23rd, .812).
- Seton Hall's has been strong on the pitch at Owen T. Carroll Field over the last two seasons, owning a 7-1-4 mark since the start of the 2022 campaign.
- Seton Hall opened the season with a 3-0 record for the first time since 2008.
- James Boote scored goals in back-to-back matches to open the season after entering the season with just one goal scored in his first 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 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.
