Seton Hall University
St. Peter's
Pirates Edged by SPU, 117-115
11/10/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The Seton Hall men’s swimming & diving team pushed a pumped up Saint Peter’s squad swimming in its home opener to the limit on Friday night, as the meet’s result was in question all the way until the final event of the evening.
Entering the finale, a 200-yard freestyle relay, the Pirates held a 111-106 advantage on the scoreboard. SHU’s top squad was out-touched by a mere eight hundredths of a second in the event, giving the Peacocks a slim 117-115 victory.
Seton Hall is now 3-4 on the year and has had two defeats decided in the final event of the respective meets.
Throughout the night, the Pirates produced a series of solid finishes, giving them an opportunity to win the back-and-forth affair.
Senior Austin Acheson (Olathe, Kan.) contributed two victories in the pool, doubling his win total for the season. Acheson kicked-off individual competition with a first-place time of 9:56.95 in the 1,000-yard freestyle, the quickest time for any team member in the event so far this season. Acheson’s mark was also over 20 seconds faster than SPU’s top performer. Freshman Steve Hausmann (North Attleboro, Mass.) placed second in the event, giving The Hall an early advantage by virtue of the 1-2 finish.
The Pirates continued from there, staking claim to crucial points in a number of races to keep the win within reach.
Freshman Tim Bosse (New Windsor, N.Y.) placed second in the 200-yard freestyle, with senior Brian Pauling (Sewell, N.J.) coming to the wall next to occupy third.
In the 50-yard freestyle, a trio of Pirates finished in succession to occupy the second, third and fourth positions. Ryan O'Shaughnessy (Coral Springs, Fla.) clocked in at 22.25, one of the three fastest times by any team member in the event through seven meets, taking second in the process. Junior Joey Lacus (Wethersfield, Conn.) finished third marking the fourth time he has finished in the top-three at the 50-yard distance this season. A fourth place performance by James Logan (Wallingford, Pa.) rounded out SHU’s scoring contingent in the race.
In the next men’s race, Acheson and freshman Andrew William (Bayonne, N.J.) finished back-to-back in second and third place in the 400-yard individual medley.
Following the first diving break, Seton Hall came back with three scoring times in the 200-yard butterfly. Junior Greg Black (Easton, Pa.) finished second (1:57.21) followed by classmates Tyler Naumann (Middletown, Conn.) in fourth and Ian DeLisio (Woodstock, N.Y.) in fifth.
Subsequent notable performances a pair of 3-4 finishes for The Hall. Bosse and Lacus placed third and fourth in the 100-yard freestyle while Matt Benson (Overland Park, Kan.) claimed third just ahead of Ian Keyser (Petersburg, N.J.) in the 200-yard backstroke.
Acheson’s second victory came late in the night as he led an all-Pirate top-three in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:48.62. Classmates Pauling and Keyser delivered second and third place times respectively, capturing critical points for Seton Hall at that point in the program.
The Hall couldn’t close it out in the final two events and ultimately fell by the narrow two-point margin.
The Pirates excelled on the diving board as well as sophomore Ben Mitchell (Milford, Pa.) collected two first-place scores on the day, matching Acheson with four for the season. From the three-meter board, freshman Eric Davidson (Overland Park, Kan.) far exceeded his previous career-best mark of 200.33, diving to a final tally of 227.90.
The Hall will return to the pool in the latter part of next week as the Pirates head to Virginia to take part in the Patriot Invitational, their final competition of 2012. The meet will begin on Thursday, Nov. 15 and will continue through Saturday, Nov. 17 and will be hosted by George Mason University.
