The Seton Hall men’s soccer team were awarded Coaching Staff of the Year on Wednesday after head coach Andreas Lindberg and his staff led the team to a 5-1-2 in-conference record and 7-1-3 overall record this season.
This is the first season in Lindberg’s three years at Seton Hall that the Pirates have finished their regular season with a winning record and the first time since 2006 that the team has finished their conference regular season with a winning record. Lindberg, assistant coaches Ali Simmons and Jeff Matteo and volunteer assistant coach Dan Solli are the second Seton Hall coaching staff to receive the honor after Manfred Schellscheidt and his staff won it in 2005.
Seton Hall also finished the regular season undefeated at home for the first time since 2003, winning six and drawing one of their seven games at Owen T. Carroll Field. Their lone draw came against No. 3 Georgetown when team captain Eden O’Leary scored late in the second half to equalize for the Pirates.
The Pirates’ second-place finish in the East Division of this year’s Big East standings also earned them their first berth in the Big East Tournament since 2012. They will face No. 17 Marquette for the first time this season in the tournament semifinals on Thursday and face either No. 2 Georgetown or Creighton should they advance to the final. Seton Hall has not won a Big East Tournament since 1991 to end a stretch of four conference tournament titles over six years.
CJ Tibbling and Luca Dahn were also awarded with All-Big East First Team honors, combining for 14 points this season. Tibbling scored four goals and provided a game-winning assist at St. John’s in overtime, and Dahn scored two goals and had a game-winning assist against Villanova along with six shutouts.
Goalkeeper Andreas Nota received All-Big East Second Team honors after recording 27 saves, a career-high six shutouts and a goal against percentage of 0.6 this season. Defender Johannes Pex and midfielder JP Marin were named to the All-Big East Third Team. Pex recorded two goals and an assist to go along with six shutouts while Marin scored two goals and provided four assists for eight points on the season.
Thursday’s Big East Tournament semifinal game will be the team’s first against Marquette since 2019 when Carlton McKenzie led the Pirates to an overtime win over the Golden Eagles in Milwaukee, Wis. All three tournament games will be played at Georgetown as the Hoyas finished first overall in the Big East standings this season.
Justin Sousa can be reached at justin.sousa@student.shu.edu. Follow him on Twitter @JustinSousa99.
