Seton Hall University
Princeton
Men's Soccer Edged by Princeton
9/1/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Princeton scored early goals in each half to account for the margin; with its first strike coming just 7:28 into the action while the second half score was fewer than five minutes into the period.
After falling behind 1-0 early in the first half the Pirates took advantage of a flurry of chances late in the half to knot the score at 1-1 and head into the intermission with a tie.
Princeton nearly took a lead in the third minute when SHU sophomore Konrad Plewa (Maniowy, Poland) was handed a yellow card just outside of the 18-yard line, but Pirate goalkeeper Michael Kuzan (Union, N.J.) made a save on Myles McGinley's free kick to keep the game scoreless.
Not even five minutes later Princeton was knocking on the door again, but this time the Tigers came through to take their early lead. Thomas Sanner started Princeton's scoring play by streaking down the right side and sending a cross into the middle of the box. Matt Sanner finished the play with a sliding jab from six-yards out to beat Kuzan to his right.
Junior Max Garcia (Jersey City, N.J.) was the star of the half offensively for Seton Hall, nearly scoring on at least three occasions before finally breaking through in the 44th minute.
His first big shot came in the 19th minute as he came in from the right side, making a sharp move around a defender to get to the center of the box, but his low shot was right of the net.
Freshman defender Julian Kennedy (Nindorf, Germany) created another great scoring opportunity later in the half, nearly connecting with Greene on a give-and-go in the 40th minute. Greene lifted a great pass over the defense that Kennedy tracked down and controlled by using his 6-foot-4-inch frame to body through two defenders. But Princeton goalkeeper Max Gallin came out to make a save on his close-range shot.
It was Garcia nearly delivering in the 43rd minute when Princeton was whistled for a hand ball just 20-yards out from the goal. Garcia took the free kick and put a high shot on net that Gallin punched off the cross bar and out of play.
Only 1:04 later after knocking on the door all half Garcia finally found the back of the net. Plewa led him up the left side of the field and Garcia blasted a quick shot from more than 20-yards out past a diving Gallin and into the far right corner.
The back-and-forth opening half saw Seton Hall lead 7-5 in shot attempts. Kuzan turned away four Princeton attempts and Gallin made four stops for the Tigers.
Princeton's second goal was set up in nearly identical fashion to the first, with Thomas Sanner making the key pass into the box, but this time it was Julian Griggs there to one-time it into the net.The Pirates were not without a multitude of scoring opportunities as the second half wore on, but the Pirates were never able to find that game-tying strike.
Junior George Velasquez (Union City, N.J.) showed flashes of aggressive play throughout the second period and oftentimes was dictating play for the Pirates but the Princeton defense had the answer each time.
In the final 10 minutes of the contest Seton Hall saw a number of strong chances, but none were better than the shot sophomore Cody Hess (Bernville, Pa.) took with under two minutes to play. Gallin came out to play a pass but was caught out of position leaving Hess with the ball and poorly defended net. But by the time he settled and fired, he was not left with much of an angle and the ball missed to the right, leaving SHU down by a goal.
Seton hall outshot Princeton 15-9 and sent a season-high total of 10 shots on net. Kuzan finished the game with five saves while Gallin made nine for the Tigers. Garcia accounted for five of Seton Hall's 15 shots, with five of them coming on net.
Seton Hall (1-2) returns to action on Monday, Sept. 3, when it hosts Rider at Owen T. Carroll Field in South Orange, N.J., at 7 p.m.
