Seton Hall University
Marquette
Hall Edged at No. 5 Marquette, 2-0
10/20/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
In the second minute Marquette keeper Charlie Lyon made a save on a long shot from SHU sophomore midfielder Bolu Akinyode (Lagos, Nigeria) and from that point the Pirates dug in defensively and limited the home team to just five shots in the opening half without yielding a single shot on net.
The Golden Eagles' chances were so sparse in the first half that three of their five shot attempts came over the final nine minutes of the period, and even those tries all sailed over the goal.
However, Marquette came out strong in the second half, and came up with what proved to be the game-winning score nine minutes into the period as Anthony Selvaggi handled a cross into the six to beat Seton Hall redshirt senior Michael Kuzan (Union, N.J.).
The Golden Eagles kept the pressure coming and scored a second time 15 minutes later. Eric Pothast recorded Marquette's second goal, heading a pass from Selvaggi on net that was initially denied by Kuzan, but the Pirate keeper did not control the rebound and Pothast was there to finish the play with a shot into the right corner.
Kuzan finished the match with three saves for the Pirates, who had seven total shots and three on net.
Junior midfielder Christian Battistesa (Bound Brook, N.J.) attempted a team-leading two shots on Saturday afternoon, with one on net, and junior forward John Gurel (Istanbul, Turkey) saw 66 minutes of action with SHU's other shot on goal.
With Providence College falling at Notre Dame, 3-0, earlier on Saturday, Seton Hall maintains sole possession of fifth place in the BIG EAST Blue Division heading into the final week of the regular season.
The Pirates will continue their unprecedented stretch of playing five consecutive matches against top-10 ranked opponents when they host No. 6 Georgetown on Wednesday, Oct. 24, at Owen T. Carroll Field in South Orange, N.J., before heading to Georgetown for the regular season finale on Saturday, Oct. 27, in Washington, D.C.
Prior to Wednesday afternoon's game, Seton Hall will honor its two seniors who will be playing their final home game in a Seton Hall uniform, Kuzan and midfielder Adriano Gabriele (North Babylon, N.Y.). Game time is scheduled for 3 p.m.
