Shupirates.com
The Seton Hall men’s soccer team looks to build off an impressive win as they try for their second straight victory in conference play when they meet Providence on Saturday.
Through a 69th minute goal from senior Andrew LoManto, the Pirates knocked off the number three-ranked Georgetown Hoyas 1-0 on Saturday and earned their biggest win of the season.
“It was a very important win for the seniors because they have never beaten Georgetown,” Head Coach Gerson Echeverry said. “It was a team morale boost and definitely a good feeling.”
In the days after the win, sophomores Julian Spindler and Shawn Morrison were named Big East goalkeeper and defender of the week, respectively.
Spindler made a career-high eight saves in the victory, while Morrison was solid defensively throughout the match.
“Julian has really picked it up over the last four games,” Echeverry said, “Shawn took advantage of the situation and was defensively sharp and tenacious.”
Morrison seemed to do it all as he also provided the assist on a great run and the cross that led to the winning goal.
Redshirt-senior Victor Manosalvas has also been solid of late for the blue and white as he has, “maintained a great rhythm,” on the pitch according to Echeverry.
Senior and South Orange-native Kai Greene has also played a major role for the Hall this season especially against the Hoyas.
“Kai Greene deserves most of the kudos.” Echeverry said, “He broke up plays, led counters and disrupted passes.”
Echeverry even went as far to say that Greene’s work rate and awareness were key in the victory.
Despite the great performance, however, there are still many things for this team to work on going into the matchup with the Friars.
“We have had mental lapses where we fall asleep at times.” Echeverry said. “Providence has extremely tough offensive pieces who can score goals and they are tough to break down defensively.”
It is safe to say that if the Pirates have any of those “lapses,” defensively the Friars will make them pay.
With that said, there is some potential in this team and they still have lofty goals for this season.
“The goal is to win the Big East Championship,” Echeverry said, “we want to try to get into the Big East Tournament, win and then get into the NCAA Tournament.”
These words seem strong coming from a team that currently sits eighth in the conference with only four games left before the conference tournament.
However, the goal of this program according to Echeverry, “is to win trophies here.”
If the Pirates want to accomplish these goals this team needs to play a full 90 minutes of solid soccer and it is clear that Coach Echeverry believes his side can do that. He also wants he team to possess the ball more, especially on the opposing team’s side of the field.
“We need to be an attacking team and put numbers forward.” Echeverry said. “If we can do that we can be very dangerous.”
The Pirates look to ride their momentum into Providence as they take of the Friars on Saturday, October 25, at Owen T. Carroll Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
