The Seton Hall men's soccer team beat No. 22 Creighton, 3-2, on Saturday afternoon at Owen T. Carroll Field.
The Pirates were led by freshman midfielder and leading goal-scorer Samuel Geiler, who had two goals in the teams' first-ever meeting.
"It was such a great team effort," Geiler said. "Everybody worked together and played great here today."
The Hall fell behind early, giving up a goal in the third minute when Creighton's Timo Pitter tapped in a cross after an initial header attempt.
"We knew that this was a very good team," head coach Gerson Echeverry said. "They were pre-ranked in the top five in the preseason. Perhaps because of all the travel they may have been a tired team, but that still didn't take away from their quality of play."
The Pirates responded in the sixth minute when senior Max Garcia sent a low cross into the box that found Geiler, who sent it under the keeper and into the back of the net. "I took a couple of bad touches in the beginning, but once I got the first goal it helped my confidence going forward," Geiler said.
In the 19th minute, Geiler sent a free kick into the box that found junior Mateusz Brela, who banged a shot off the crossbar. Junior Kai Greene was in perfect position for the rebound and scored a sliding goal to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead.
Seton Hall continued to press the Bluejays and as a result drew a foul in the box.
Garcia was taken down by Creighton's Brendan Hines-Ike, giving Geiler the opportunity for his first penalty kick of his career.
Creighton keeper Alex Bolowich dove left and Geiler kicked right, scoring his eighth goal of the season.
Geiler's eight goals are the most by a Seton Hall player in a single season since 2009, and his 20 total points are the most by a Pirate since 2008.
The Pirates' two-goal lead was cut short less than a minute later. A miscommunication between sophomore defender Julian Kennedy and freshman keeper Julian Spindler resulted in an own goal.
Down by one, the Bluejays brought the pressure in the second half, but the Seton Hall defense stood its ground and held on to get the victory.
The Bluejays outshot the Pirates in the second half, 9-4, but couldn't get one past Spindler to even the score.
Spindler had three saves in the contest, which gives him 37 on the season.
The Pirates are fighting for a top-six finish in the conference in order to compete in the Big East Tournament. They are currently tied with Butler and Villanova for sixth place in the conference and is just one point behind Creighton for fifth.
"We need to score goals and defend well," Echeverry said.
"If we make an effort to de- fend as a unit and we're fortunate enough to put our chances away then we have a good chance of winning."
Seton Hall will play its final conference games on the road against Marquette on Saturday and is at home against St. John's on Nov. 8.
Mike Romano can be reached at michael.romano1@student. shu.edu.
