The Seton Hall men’s soccer team may have had one of the best single season turnarounds for any program in a long time. This season they reached their highest national ranking in 30 years by being ranked No. 9 in the nation, made the Big East Tournament for the first time since 2012, and have had their most Big East wins since 2006. They finished the regular season with a 7-1-3 record and will play Marquette in the Big East semifinal. In addition to these incredible team achievements, a lot of players on the team have been honored for their play this season. CJ Tibbling and Luca Dahn both earned All-Big East first team while Andreas Nota was named to the All-Big East second team. The Hall also landed a couple of players on the All-Big East third team in Johannes Pex and JP Marin.
Before they kick off on Thursday April 15, let’s take a look at how this team went from being unranked at the start of the season to being a top-10 team and in contention for a Big East championship at the end.
NJIT
The Pirates started off their season with a 3-3 draw against NJIT. Seton Hall was anchored by the one and only Pex when he scored two goals in this match. The match was pretty even throughout, but NJIT was able to secure a lead late in the game until Tibbling put one in the back of the net to tie it up with the Highlanders and save the Pirates from a loss. Seton Hall limited NJIT’s opportunities in this one as they outshot them 20-9, but they couldn’t limit the number of goals scored. The Hall sat 0-0-1 after their first match.
La Salle
Next time on the pitch, Seton Hall got a 1-0 victory over the La Salle Explorers in their home opener. The Pirates got out from the jump in this one as Jack Barrett scored the first and only goal of the game in sixth minute. Th goal came off a free kick from James Boote who sent it over to Maurice Williams and then Williams got the ball to Barrett. The Pirate did play down a man during the majority of the second half as Williams was assessed a red card, but their impressive defense was able to secure the lead. Barrett scored is his first goal as a Pirate in this one and goalkeeper Andreas Nota earned his sixth career shutout putting the Pirates at 1-0-1
Farleigh Dickinson
The Hall finished out their non-conference schedule at home as they hosted another New Jersey rival in Farleigh Dickinson. Tibbling got the ball rolling once again in this one as he put a shot in the net in the 23rd minute of this one. Before the first half was up the Pirates weren’t done scoring as they earned a corner kick and were able to convert. Dahn was able to control the ball off the cross and head the ball into the back of the net. Seton Hall’s backline wax way too strong in the match for FDU and helped play a huge role in the Pirates win. This was Dahn’s first goal as Pirate. Tibbling notched his second goal of the season. Nota split the shutout along with Hannes Ronnholmen, with Ronnholmen picking up the victory. The Pirates improved their season 2-0-1.
St. John’s
Up next for the Pirates, they started out Big East play against a tough opponent in St. John’s. Seton Hall struck early in this match once Paavo Riihijarvi used his fancy footwork to get around a few Red Storm defenders and put one in the back of the net in the second minute of the match. Marin was credited with the assist on the goal, which was his third straight assisted goal. This was the start of the big wins for the Pirates since St. John’s came into this ranked 15th and 21st by College Soccer News and TopDrawerSoccer, respectively. This was another match that the Pirates continued to outshoot their opponents as they did so in this one winning the shooting battle 18-8. The Pirates improved to 3-0-1 on the young season
Georgetown
The toughest challenge of the season came up in their very next game when the Pirates headed down to Washington, D.C. to face the No. 5 Georgetown Hoyas. The Pirate splayed this with the defending National Champions but couldn’t come away with the win in overtime. Neither team could find separation in the first half, but in the second, Tibbling was the first one to break the scoreless theme in the 46th minute and put the Pirates up 1-0. It wasn’t until the 64th minute that the Hoyas were able to break through with Dant Polvara scoring on a penalty kick. The score remained 1-1 throughout the remainder of regulation forcing the two teams into overtime. Georgetown earned a second penalty kick that was initially saved by Nota, but then Polvara came up with the rebound giving the Hoyas the 2-1 victory in the 97thminute. Tibbling notched his third goal of the year as the Pirates were outshot on the net 6-3. This was Seton hall’s first loss of the season making them 3-1-1 on the year.
UCONN
After that very close loss, the Pirates made the road trip from Washington, D.C. to Storrs, Conn. to take on another Big East rival in the UConn Huskies. This one was close all the way throughout ending in 0-0 draw between the two squads. Nota had three saves on his way to another shutout. Both teams had equal opportunities, earning nine shots each, but it was the Pirates who had a bit of an advantage in that area as they four shots on goal compared to UConn’s three and they also took 11 corner kicks compared to UConn’s three. This was the Pirates second draw of the season making their record at this point on March 6 a solid one of 3-1-2.
Villanova
After not getting the win in Storrs, Conn., Seton Hall returned home in hopes remaining undefeated on their home turf. The Villanova Wildcats came to town in what ended up being a 1-0 victory for the Pirates. The lone goal for the Pirates and of the game was scored by Riihijarvi, his second of the season, halfway through the first period off of passes from Boote and Dahn. This was Nota’s fourth clean sheet of the season as he made two saves. This victory put the Pirates in second place of the East division tying them up with the Providence Friars, who they played next. This win gave the Pirate a 4-1-2 record heading into one of the most crucial games of the season.
Providence
Besides the Georgetown game, the Pirates’ matchup with the No. 13 Providence Friars was the biggest of the season. Playing for sole possession of second place in the East division, the Pirates desperately needed to get a win if they wanted a shot at going to the Big East Tournament. The Pirates were able to keep the good times rolling at home as they earned a 2-1 victory over the Friars. This was the first time of the season that the Pirates didn’t score first. Providence got on the board in the 28th minute with Luis Garcia putting one in the back of the net. But Seton Hall struck back right away with Dah scoring off a Boote corner kick in the 29th minute to tie it up at one late in the first half. It wasn’t until the 42ndminute that Seton Hall broke through. Marin pulled fancy move on the Providence goalkeeper and got the ball in the goal putting the Pirates up 2-1. Seton Hall heled onto the lead and was able to get the win. Boote’s assist was his third of the year. This win also gave the Pirates a 5-0 record at home, which is their best start at home since 1999 when they went 7-0 at home. The win was also their first win against a top-25 team since 2017 when they beat No. 25 Creighton. The Pirates improved to an overall record of 5-1-2 on the year.
St. John’s
After the big win, Seton Hall made the short trip to Queens, N.Y., to play St. John’s for the second time this season. The Pirates were able to get their third straight win in a nail biter of a win as the final score was 3-2. Neither team scored in the first half, but St. John’s found the back of the net quickly in the second half after they scored twice in the first eight minutes giving themselves a commanding 2-0 lead. Marin got the Pirate offense rolling once he drew a foul in the box and then converted on the penalty kick that follow to make a 2-1 game in the 56th minute. Tibbling once again came up huge scoring the tying goal to make it 2-2 in the 73rd minute. This was Tibbling’s fourth goal of the season. After an incredible passing sequence that saw the ball go from Marin to Dennis Kelmendi to Raz Amir, Amir put it in the goal and scored the game-winner for the Pirates to give them the 3-2 overtime win. Marin’s goal was the first successfully converted penalty kick for the Pirates this season and helped the Hall earn their first win in Queens, N.Y. since 2014. This win also makes the 2021 season their best start to Big East play since 2006 and their four conference wins were the highest total by the Pirates since 2006. Another streak broken in this one was this being the first time the Pirates scored at least three goals in a game against the Red Storm since 1988. After this win, the Hall’s overall record improved to 6-1-2.
Georgetown
Once they earned the convincing win over St. John’s, the Pirates finally broke through the top-25 rankings and became the No. 22 team in the nation. Even though the Pirates earned this ranking, their next matchup wasn’t going to be a cake walk as they played host to the No. 3 Georgetown Hoyas. Georgetown was able to escape with a win over the Pirates last time, but this one yielded a different result. Once again, the first half went scoreless between these two squads as they played very evenly matched. Seton Hall had a few chances late in the first, but none of them were able to convert. Georgetown got on the board first in the 74th minute with Derek Dodson getting a rebound off the goal post. Eden O’Leary came up big and played hero ball in the 81st minute scoring the game-winning goal off of a free kick from Boote. No one could get the job done in overtime, thus ending in a 1-1 draw. This was Boote’s fourth assist on the season. The Pirates got to a solid record of 6-1-3 with this win.
Another look at the HUGE equalizer from Eden O'Leary!#HALLin 🔵⚪ pic.twitter.com/GoS1iR3YSO
— Seton Hall Men's Soccer (@SHUMSOC) March 20, 2021
UCONN
After an impressive performance against No. 3 Georgetown, the Pirates went up in the rankings to No. 15 in the nation. The Pirates played their final home game against the UConn Huskies after the Georgetown match. Neither team was able to find the net in the first half, so it wasn’t until the 59th minute that Maurice Williams was able to give the Pirates the 1-0 advantage off of an assist from Boote. This match was Nota’s fifth shoutout of the year as the Pirate defense was able to hold onto the 1-0 lead for the rest of the game. Williams’ goal was his first as a Pirate. Since this was the Pirates’ final home game of the season, they completed an unbeaten regular season at home. The Pirates got to their current record of 7-1-3 after this win over the Huskies.
Seton Hall was supposed to finish their season on the road against Villanova and Providence, but the Pirates were faced with some COVID-19 issues within their program that forced them to cancel those last two games. Nevertheless, the Pirates still finished the season strong with a solid record of 7-1-3 and in the top-10 in the country with a No. 9 ranking and then slipped to No. 11 just before the tournament. They started out unranked with not that big of expectations and now they have a chance at winning the Big East championship in one of the craziest seasons the NCAA has seen.
Next, they have their biggest game of the year in the Big East Semifinal. No. 11 Seton Hall vs. No. 17 Marquette in the Big East Semifinal. It’s going to be a great one between these two ranked teams and will be one you surely won’t want to miss.