The men's soccer 1-0 victory over St. Peter's on Sept. 28 snapped a three-game losing streak for the Pirates and improved their record to 2-5-1 on the season.
With leading goal scorer senior Steven Rose and senior Andrew Welker unable to play due to injuries, freshman forward Max Garcia stepped in and put the Pirates ahead with his first career goal.
"[Rose] is a great player and today he had to step out because of an injury, but we managed it," Garcia said. "I got the pass from Victor [Manosalvas, freshman] and I had the open lane so I played a chip into the goal."
Manosalvas and freshman Christian Battistesa both tallied their second assists of the season on the goal, scored in the 40th minute of the first half.
Sophomore goalie Michael Kuzan made his first appearance in net this year, recording six saves in the shutout.
"We gutted it out, that's the short version," head coach Manfred Schellscheidt. "I really like how the younger guys fought and battled at a time when we had the lead, and made sure we were able to keep it."
Ten minutes before halftime, Pirate freshman John Gurel had two scoring opportunities one on a header that went off the post and on a long strike that went just wide of the net.
The Hall eventually broke through St. Peters' defense with Garcia's goal just five minutes before the break.
St. Peter's was able to get 10 shots in the back-and-forth second half, yet the Pirates held off for the win.
The well-rested Peacocks hadn't played in a week, while Seton Hall faced Villanova just three days prior.
"Everybody's head was a little down, it's tough," Garcia said. "But after a win like this we realized if we could do it right now, we can do it any game."
The Pirates were outshot 15-10 and St. Peter's had six corner kick opportunities compared to the Hall's three.
Seton Hall lost their Big East opener on Sept. 25 at Villanova, 1-0.
The Wildcats scored the only goal of the game in the 11th minute of the first half after a low free kick from sophomore Kyle Soroka beat Pirates' senior goalkeeper Sean Carr and found the left side of the net.
Senior Dritan Sela led the Hall with two shots on goal, one coming from a header in the second half that was tipped away by Villanova's junior keeper Chris Breshnahan to ensure the Wildcat shutout.
Villanova outshot the Pirates 16-11, yet only three of the Wildcats' shots were on goal while Seton Hall had five on net.
Carr would record two saves for the Pirates in the game.
The Hall will host the 4-2-1 Pittsburgh Panthers at Owen T. Carroll Field in their Big East home opener on Oct. 2 at 7 p.m.
Pittsburgh started the season 4-0, yet has gone winless and scoreless in their past three games. The Panthers went on the road to play Syracuse to a 0-0 tie on Sept. 25 in their first Big East match up,.
"We just need to play strong and play our game," Schellscheidt said. "Hopefully we have a little bit more energy on Saturday so we can play the way we like to play and keep the ball longer."
Matt Bryant can be reached matthew.bryant@student.shu.edu.
