The Seton Hall men’s soccer team won, 1-0, over the NJIT Highlanders on Tuesday night at home. The win improves the Pirates to 5-4-2 on the season.
Seton Hall struggled to create offense during the first half, whereas NJIT had a couple of good looks. One attempt in the 26th minute proved dangerous, but goalkeeper Andreas Nota made a fantastic save off a free kick.
The second half was a different story as the Pirates pushed the pace. Eventually, in the 53th minute, Francisco Alderete put one in on an assist from CJ Tibbling to give the Pirates the lead.
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Photo via SHU Athletics[/caption]
Head coach Andreas Lindberg was impressed with how his team rebounded from the lackluster start.
“We made adjustments at halftime, going to a 4-3-3 formation, trying to be more aggressive,” Lindberg said. “I told players to play with passion.”
The Pirates continued to control the half after the goal, creating more chances and doing a solid job defending while the Highlanders were inside the penalty area. The Pirates did not get another goal, but they were able to maintain composure and never let NJIT get into a rhythm.
The Pirates finished with six shots on target on the night, as they could not generate anything more on the scoreboard in the second half.
“Offensively we need to finish our chances. We cannot relax,” Lindberg said. “We need to score goals on chances and we must create better.”
Individually, Tibbling had the most shot attempts with four (one on target). Nota came up huge with five clutch saves, and particularly three crucial ones in the second half.
“I don’t come up with players of the game until I reach the locker room,” Lindberg said. “But David Arvidsson, Gabby Viola, and Andreas had all great games.”
Seton Hall will return to action against Georgetown at home on Oct. 20 at 2 p.m.
Ryan Beltran can be reached at Ryan.Beltran@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @RyanB591011.
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