MSOC Hosts Providence & Pittsburgh
10/2/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
• The all-time series between SHU and Providence is tied 11-11-6.
• Providence picked up a 6-1 win over Seton Hall last season.
• The two teams have tied in three of the last eight meetings, including a 2-2 draw in the 2005 BIG EAST Tournament.
PITTSBURGH SERIES HISTORY • Seton Hall leads the all-time series with Pittsburgh, 19-8-3.
• The Panthers defeated Seton Hall, 2-0, last season in Pittsburgh.
• Since 2004 the series is tied 4-4, with Pittsburgh winning three of the last four contests. The teams have not tied since 1998.
IMPRESSIVE NUMBERS
Redshirt senior goalkeeper Michael Kuzan is averaging 13.5 saves over Seton Hall's last two contests. He stopped a then career-high 13 shots at Delaware on Sept. 18, then topped that with 14 saves at Syracuse on Sept. 22. Allowing just one goal per game with 27 total saves, Kuzan earned BIG EAST Conference Goalkeeper of the Week honors for the first time in his career.
KEEP ‘EM COMING
Just a day after being named the BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week, redshirt senior goalkeeper Michael Kuzan received another award, as he was named the BigAppleSoccer.com Goalkeeper of the Week. He led Seton Hall to a 1-1 week with a road victory at Delaware where he made 13 saves, and a 1-0 loss at Syracuse as he stopped 14 shots.
MORE ABOUT KUZAN
Having started six games in net for Seton Hall this season, redshirt senior Michael Kuzan is among the BIG EAST and national leaders in saves. He ranks second in the NCAA with 6.83 saves per game, which leads the BIG EAST, and he is third in the conference and 44th in the nation with 41 total saves.
WHAT A LONG LAYOFF
After playing Syracuse on Saturday, Sept. 22, Seton Hall had to wait 11 days before taking the field again against Providence College on Oct. 3. It is the longest stretch between games for Seton Hall since 2005, when the Pirates had 14 days off between the BIG EAST Tournament and their NCAA opener against Hartwick. SHU won that game, 2-1.
SEEING SOME CONSISTENCY
The Pirates have seen a great deal of consistency from their backline, with three players starting all nine games on defense for the Pirates so far this season. Sophomore captain Mateusz Brela, junior Christian Battistesa and freshman Julian Kennedy have been mainstays in the SHU lineup.
AGGRESSIVE OFFENSE
Sophomore midfielder Kai Greene has started three-straight matches at midfield for the Pirates. He led the SHU offense at Syracuse last Saturday firing a team-high two shots on net, which tied his career high set earlier this season against Saint Peter's.
HONORED AGAIN
Junior forward Max Garcia was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Sept. 17, for a second time this season. He scored the game-winner in the Pirates' 1-0 win over No. 19 Monmouth to garner the conference accolade.
SHU UPSETS NO. 19 MONMOUTH
Seton Hall University picked up its first win over a ranked opponent this season with a 1-0 victory over No. 19 Monmouth on Sept. 14. Junior Max Garcia scored the game-winner in the 18th minute and Seton Hall's defense limited the Hawks to just two shots on goal.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
Junior forward Max Garcia is one of the Pirates' two team captains for 2012 and has been one of the team's statistical leaders as well. He ranks in the top-10 in the conference in five statistical categories.
| CATEGORY | STAT | RANK |
| Shots | 30 | T-6th |
| Shots/Game | 3.33 | 5th |
| Goals | 5 | T-4th |
| Points | 11 | T-7th |
| Goals/Game | 0.56 | 5th |
BONDER SHUTS OUT NO. 19 HAWKS
Junior goalkeeper Kevin Bonder stopped both shots he faced to record a 1-0 shutout over No. 19 Monmouth on Sept. 19. The clean sheet was his first of the season and the third of his career. He is sixth in the BIG EAST with 4.00 saves per game.
BATTISTESA GETS ON THE SCOREBOARD
Junior defender Christian Battistesa found the back of the net for the first time in his career as he scored a first-half goal in Seton Hall's 2-1 win at Delaware on Sept. 19.
KUZAN'S CAREER HIGH
Redshirt-senior goalkeeper Michael Kuzan made a then career-high 13 saves to help Seton Hall hold off Delaware, 2-1. The 13 saves shattered his previous career-high of six, set against St. Peter's in 2010.
GARCIA/LAGG ALL-TOURNAMENT
Junior forward Max Garcia and freshman midfielder Eric Lagg were both named to the Old Dominion Stihl Soccer Classic All-Tournament Team. Garcia scored off a penalty kick in the Pirates' match with Virginia Commonwealth and finished the tournament with a team-high five shots. Lagg started both games at midfield for Seton Hall.
VERSUS RANKED OPPONENTS
Seton Hall has faced two teams ranked in the NSCAA Top-25 poll this season, going 1-1 in those matchups, falling to Old Dominion but defeating Monmouth. Four of SHU's remaining opponents are currently ranked in the top-25.
GARCIA REACHES DOUBLE FIGURES
By converting a penalty kick against Virginia Commonwealth on Sept. 9, SHU junior Max Garcia scored the 10th goal of his career. Garcia led the Pirates in scoring last season and leads The Hall once again this year with five goals and an assist for 11 points.
MAX GARCIA HONORED
Junior forward Max Garcia was named to the BIG EAST Conference Weekly Honor Roll on Monday, Sept. 3, marking the first time this season and the second time in his career he has received the honor. Garcia scored goals against Army and Princeton to land on the conference Honor Roll.
WORKING OVERTIME
Seton Hall played its first overtime game of the year against Rider on Sept. 3, and the Pirates ended up with a positive result, winning 2-1 just 44 seconds into the extra period. Sophomore midfielder Andrew LoManto headed in the game-winner, the first of his career. It was the Pirates' first overtime win since a 2-1 victory over Boston University on Sept. 9, 2012.
NICE START
Freshman midfielder Eric Lagg made the first start of his career against Rider on Sept, 3, and he made an immediate impact, scoring the first goal of his career in the 45th minute.
ECHEVERRY ERA BEGINS
The season opener against Saint Peter's University marked the beginning of a new era for Seton Hall soccer under first-year head coach Gerson Echeverry. Echeverry was hired this winter after long-time head coach Manfred Schellscheidt announced his retirement after 24 years roaming the sidelines.
• Echeverry played at Seton hall from 1991-94, winning BIG EAST Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors in 1991.
• Echeverry was the top assistant coach at Seton Hall for five seasons (2003-07).• Over the last three seasons Echeverry was an assistant coach for the USSF U17 men's national team.
FIRST-CAREER VICTORY
First year head coach Gerson Echeverry notched the first win of his coaching career with a 2-0 victory over Army on Aug. 27. The win was the 452nd in Seton Hall men's soccer history.
GREENE SCORES FIRST GOAL OF THE YEAR
Seton Hall's first goal of the 2012 season went to sophomore midfielder Kai Greene, who headed in a corner kick in the 25th minute against Saint Peter's University on Aug. 24.
DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN
Senior midfielder Adriano Gabriele scored the game-winning goal against Army off a penalty kick in the Pirates' 2-0 win over the Black Knights on Aug. 27. If the sight looked familiar it is because Gabriele scored the game-winner against Army last year too, also with a penalty kick. He has two game-winning scores in his career.
SHU SCORES A RARE PAIR
Seton Hall defeated Army, 2-0, on Aug. 27, behind a pair of corner kicks from senior Adriano Gabriele and junior Max Garcia. It is the first time since 2007 that the Pirates converted two penalty kicks in the same game. Eliseo Giusfredi scored twice via PK in a 6-2 win over Pennsylvania on Sept. 3, 2007.
KUZAN PICKS UP SHUTOUT
Redshirt-senior Michael Kuzan earned his first shutout of the season and the second of his career in SHU's 2-0 win over Army on Aug. 27. He turned away four shots to post a clean sheet and record his first shutout since 2010.
COACHING STAFF ADDITIONS
New head coach Gerson Echeverry made two additions to his coaching staff for the 2012 season. Vincent Marcotrigiano will serve as the Pirates' full-time assistant coach will Guillermo Valencia has come on board to work with SHU's goalkeepers. Marcotrigiano played collegiately at George Mason University before enjoying a six-year professional career. Valencia has coached at the youth, club, collegiate and national level, and played professionally for 16 years.
2012 TEAM CAPTAINS
Seton Hall features two captains for this year's team in junior forward Max Garcia and sophomore defender Mateusz Brela.
BIG EAST PRESEASON POLL
Seton Hall was picked to finish in sixth place in the Blue Division in the 2012 BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Pirates went 5-11-2 overall last season and 1-8 in the BIG EAST. They picked up 27 points to finish sixth in the poll. SHU returns 20 letterwinners and six of its top seven scorers from a year ago.
KLJESTAN INTO HALL OF FAME
Former Seton Hall men's soccer standout Sacha Kljestan was inducted into the Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame in a ceremony held Monday, June 11, at the Fairmount Country Club in Chatham, N.J. Kljestan led the Pirates to three-straight NCAA Tournament berths from 2003-05. He was a two-time All-American and still holds the program's single-season assists record at 15.
CLASS OF 2016
Head coach Gerson Echeverry and the men's soccer program brought in six freshman this offseason to make up the Class of 2016. Joining the Pirates on the field this fall will be forward Danny Bartok (Union, N.J.), midfielder Lucas Della Ventura (Brookline, Mass.), midfielder Eric Lagg (Lafayette, N.J.), defender Pasquale Suriano (Lebanon, N.J.), defender Julian Kennedy (Nindorf, Germany) and defender Chris Hall (Bridgewater, N.J.).
