Seton Hall Men’s Soccer Heads to the Big East Conference Final

Hall SportsJennifer Steele

The Seton Hall Pirates came out hot on Shaw Field this afternoon as they defeated Marquette 4-1 in the Big East Conference Tournament Semifinals.ย  The Pirates took the early lead just five minutes into the game when CJ Tibbling was able to connect with Mattias Sundell, who sent the ball from 25 yards out on the left side of the field into the top right corner of the net. This marks Sundellโ€™s first goal of the season.

Not much time passed before defender Maurice Williams cleaned up a failed attempt coming from a free kick. At the 11-minute mark, Sundell this time assisted from the right side of the field with Williams sending a header into the top right corner again from the left post.

The score would remain at 2-0, in favor of Seton Hall, for the remainder of the half. A noteworthy hurdle Seton Hall had to deal with was the possible loss of midfielder, Paavo Riihijarvi, as he collided with Zak Wegner of Marquette contesting a header at the 20-minute mark. Riihijarvi would leave the game for an period of time after splitting his head open only to return with a head wrapping to protect the bandages on his forehead, while Wegner was deemed unable to return after undergoing concussion protocol.

Seton Hallโ€™s defense held strong the first half holding Marquette to just four shots on goal, needing goalkeeper Andreas Nota for only two saves of those shots. On the other side, Seton Hall was able to get six shots on goal, connecting on two.

Coming out of halftime, the Pirates kept the pressure on and energy high as Williams again was able to send another header into the back left corner from the right post off of an entry pass from James Boote (61โ€™). Not even a minute later, CJ Tibbling got in on the action with a left-footed strike off of the left post assisted by yet again Sundell. With 29 minutes remaining, the Pirates held a commanding lead over the Golden Eagles.

After 73 minutes of protecting the Pirate goal, Sam Thornton of Marquette was able to hit the lower right corner for the Golden Eagles first goal, assisted by Lukas Sunesson. This goal would round out scoring for the game resulting in a final of 4-1 with a Pirates win.

Nota had a bit more action down at the Pirates goal with 7 shots, 4 saves and 1 goal allowed. The Pirates delivered the same pressure to Jackson Weyman, goalkeeper for the Golden Eagles with 6 shots, 1 save and 2 goals allowed.

Both teams came out aggressive resulting in 37 fouls for the game with 18 from Seton Hall and 19 from Marquette proving it to be an all-out battle for the last spot in the conference final.

The Pirates head to their first conference championship since 2006, however they will be without Jake Barrett, as he received two yellow cards resulting in a red card at 79โ€™. Seton Hall will be meeting the Georgetown Hoyas on Saturday as the three-time reigning champions look to secure a fourth championship.