Men’s soccer on the verge of an undefeated home record
After a win and a draw in last week’s games against St. John’s and No. 3 Georgetown respectively, No. 22 Seton Hall will play its final home game of the season on Saturday when it hosts the University of Connecticut.
Seton Hall’s over-time 3-2 win over St. John’s on Wednesday was its first away win over the Red Storm since 2014. St. John’s failed to clear Denis Kelmendi’s looping cross into the box, and freshman Raz Amir was on deck to score the golden goal for his first career goal in a Seton Hall jersey. JP Marin and CJ Tibbling also got themselves on the scoresheet that night with Tibbling’s well-taken volley earning a spot on the Sports Center Top 10 Plays list.
The Pirates maintained an undefeated home record after drawing with Georgetown, improving to a 5-0-1 overall record on Saturday. After the Hoyas took the lead midway through the second half, sophomore captain Eden O’Leary scored the equalizer after tapping in a James Boote free kick with nine minutes left in regulation time. O’Leary earned Big East Defensive Player of the Week honors while senior goalkeeper Andreas Nota was named to the Weekly Honor Roll for a third consecutive week after making eight saves across both games.
Both teams are tied for first overall in the Big East at 14 points, but Georgetown has an extra game in hand. The regular season winner across the East Division and Midwest Division will host this season’s Big East Tournament. Seton Hall were picked to finish sixth in the East Division and eighth overall in the Big East in the Men’s Soccer Preseason Coaches’ Polls.
Looking ahead, the Pirates will play the first of their last three games of the season against UConn on Saturday. The previous meeting between these two ended in a goalless draw at Morrone Stadium after double overtime. The Huskies are yet to win a game or score a goal after four games in conference play this season which will be a massive boost for a Pirates defense that has only conceded in three of their seven Big East games in 2021.
Related stories: No. 22 Seton Hall ‘more of a team’ during best Big East regular season in 15 years
Baseball wins first series of the season
The Pirates finally secured their first series win of the season over George Washington University this past weekend, bouncing back from a first game loss on Saturday to win the next two 8-0 and 8-4, respectively. The Pirates improved to 5-8 on the season after the three games.
Tyler Shedler-McAvoy earned a Big East Weekly Honor Roll mention after he hit .471 with four runs scored, two doubles, two home runs and eight RBI. Shedler-McAvoy had two multi-hit games and slugged 1.083 with a grand slam in game two.
The baseball team will travel to North Carolina next weekend for its next three-game series against Davidson before rounding out most of its non-conference schedule with a three-game series against Fordham. Big East baseball will return to Owen T. Carroll Field on April 9 when the Pirates host Butler for their first conference series of the season.
Wingo named to Big East Softball Weekly Honor Roll
Despite the softball team’s loss to St. John’s in their three-game Big East series, sophomore outfielder Abby Wingo earned a spot on the Big East Softball Weekly Honor Roll.
Wingo batted .500 with three doubles and three RBI against St. John’s and added a double in Wednesday’s setback at Fordham to finish the week with a .462 clip. She also got the Pirates on the board first in their second game of the series when she singled home two runs to put the Pirates up 2-0 in the first inning. She hit 4-for-4 from the plate with two doubles and two runs batted in.
The Pirates will host Holy Cross next weekend in a four-game series in hopes of adding another series win to the season on top of the two-game win they had over Lehigh. Seton Hall is 5-10 overall this season with a 2-4 record in the Big East.
Related stories: Abby Wingo and her traveling fan group
Justin Sousa can be reached at justin.sousa@student.shu.edu. Follow him on Twitter @JustinSousa99.
