Seton Hall University
Delaware
MSOC Comes Back to beat Delaware
9/20/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Junior defender Christian Battistesa (Bound Brook, N.J.) and junior forward Max Garcia (Jersey City, N.J.) provided all the offense the Pirates would need to come away with the road win.
Battistesa's first-half score was the first of his career while Garcia's game-winner was his fifth goal of the season and the 12th of his career. It was also the second game-winner in as many contests for the SHU forward, who was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Monday for a second time this season.
Garcia, who is Seton Hall's leading scorer with five goals and an assist through eight games, has already matched his 2011 goal and point totals and the Pirates have yet to reach the halfway point of the season. Wednesday night's strike moved him into a tie for the BIG EAST lead in goals scored and he is now just one point shy of the conference lead of 12.
The result against Delaware allowed the Pirates to even their overall record at 4-4 heading into their BIG EAST Conference opener at Syracuse University on Saturday night.
It is also the first road victory of the season for Seton Hall and the first time this year SHU has strung together back-to-back victories; the Pirates were coming off a 1-0 win over No. 19 Monmouth University last Friday night at Owen T. Carroll Field.
Roberto Gimenez put Delaware (2-5-1) on the scoreboard in just the fifth minute when he scored a long-range goal off a set piece. He sent a direct kick from 30-yards out into the top-right corner to provide the Blue Hens with an early advantage.
Battistesa's answer to Gimenez' early strike came in the 25th minute as he dribbled into the box and beat Blue Hen goalkeeper Jay Lupas to the right side.
Garcia's goal that proved to be the eventual game-winner came 11 minutes later, with sophomore Konrad Plewa (Maniowy, Poland) registering an assist on the score, his team-leading second of the year.
Plewa fed Garcia near the top of the area and he found enough space to launch a shot from about 20-yards away out of Lupas' reach and into the top-right corner.
The Pirates withstood a second half charge from the Blue Hens, who finished the game with a 22-11 advantage in shot attempts, and a 15-3 edge in the second half. Delaware ended up sending 14 of those attempts on net and senior goalkeeper Michael Kuzan (Union, N.J.) was there to stop a career-high 13 of them.
The 14 shots on goal were the most for any Seton Hall opponent this season and Kuzan's 13 saves were just three shy of the Seton Hall single-game record of 16, set by Sean Carr at North Carolina in 2010.
Seton Hall (4-4) returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 22, when it faces Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y., at 7 p.m.
