Pirates overcome more road adversity for third consecutive win

The Seton Hall men’s soccer team are winners of three straight for the first time since 2011 as the Pirates notched a road victory on Sunday night against Penn University by a score of 2-1. It was the second game in a row where the Pirates had to erase an early deficit to Ivy-League opposition before securing the win. The Pirates fell behind early on, as the away side surrendered a goal in the 26th minute to Penn striker Joe Swenson, his first of the season. Seton Hall had a quick turnaround though, as they scored off a corner kick the very next minute to even things up. Spencer Burkhardt served up an accurate ball into the box to Marco Neves, who headed it into the back of the net. [caption id="attachment_19515" align="aligncenter" width="838"] Photo via SHU Athletics[/caption] The score remained even for the remainder of the half, as both defenses stood strong. Seton Hall’s back three consisting of Nick Najera, Lukas Pangonis and John Philbin played the entire match and limited Penn to very few opportunities. This allowed the Pirates to go to work offensively, as The Hall outshot Penn 10-5, with the most important one coming off the foot of Andres Arcila in the 59^th minute. It was then that Arcila sent a beautiful free kick into the back of the net to give Seton Hall a lead they would not relinquish. This was Arcila’s fourth goal of the season and the second game in a row where he scored the go-ahead goal. Down the stretch, freshman keeper Elliot Munford was called upon twice to defend the lead, and both times delivered. Munford finished with two stops and improved his collegiate record to 3-1-0. The Pirates are clicking for the first time in a long time, thanks to an offense that has been able to be relied upon, scoring eight over the last three, but also a defense that has held firm enough, conceding only four in the same span. Seton Hall will look to carry this momentum forward into both their final two non-conference matches and Big East play. Next up is a familiar non-conference opponent in Delaware who will visit The Hall on Wednesday, with kickoff at 7 p.m. James Sherry can be reached at James.sherry@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @JSherry2324.