Preview: No. 6 Seton Hall and No. 3 Indiana Make for a Historic Matchup

Hall SportsLiam Plate

Once again, the No. 6 Seton Hall Pirates (10-1-4) are rolling into another round of the NCAA Menโ€™s Soccer Tournament, but this time they come up against some tough competition and one of the best menโ€™s soccer programs in the country, No. 3 Indiana (10-1-2).

Most Seton Hall fans know how the last game ended for the Pirates, but if you missed it hereโ€™s a little synopsis. The Pirates were tied with Virginia Tech 2-2 after overtime and the game went to penalty kicks. The Pirates came out on top with Andreas Nota making a big save and making the game winning PK giving the Pirates 7-6 victory in PKs.

Looking at Indianaโ€™s Sweet 16 matchup, they took on another Big East foe in the No. 19 Marquette Golden Eagles. Marquette was the first team to strike in this one with AJ Franklin scoring in the 44th minute of the match. Then for the Hoosiers, it was Herbert Endeley who tied up the match in the 71st minute. The goal came off an assist from Big 10 Offensive Player for the Year Victor Bezerra. Nine minutes later, sophomore Maouloune Goumballe scored the game winning goal in the 80th minute to secure the win for the Hoosiers.

This is the fourth time that Indiana has made it to the NCAA Elite Eight under their current head coach Todd Yeagley. The last three times ended with the Hoosiers heading to the College Cup (Final Four) with their run in 2012 ending in a national championship victory. While for Seton Hall, the only other time they made it to the Elite Eight was in 1988 where they also played Indiana. The Hoosier came away with the victory in that defeating the Pirates 3-1 and going on to win the national championship. But this isnโ€™t 1988.

Seton Hall will have to mainly focus on offensive powerhouse Bezerra. In addition to bringing home Big 10 Offensive Player of the Year, he was also named to the All-Big 10 First Team. He has 12 goals on the season with four assists to go along with that. In addition to Bezerra being named to the All-Big 10 First Team, redshirt senior Spencer Glass was also named to the First Team. The Hoosiers also had two players named to the All-Big 10 Second Team. Indiana also has the Big 10 Goalkeeper of the year in the net, as well. So, the Hoosier have some of the most talented players in the Big 10 and in the country.

The Pirates have a real shot to advance to the College Cup for the first time in the programโ€™s history, but their going to have to take down eight-time national champion Indiana to get there. Be sure to follow all of The Clarity Stripeโ€™s coverage of tonightโ€™s match!