Kuzan Named Goalkeeper of the Week
9/24/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Kuzan set a career-high in saves in back-to-back games for the Pirates, who posted a 1-1 overall record in a pair of road contests last week with a 2-1 win at Delaware on Wednesday and a 1-0 loss at Syracuse in their BIG EAST opener on Saturday night.
Junior forward Max Garcia (Jersey City, N.J.) scored the eventual game-winner in the first half and Kuzan turned away 10 shots in the second half to preserve the 2-1 SHU victory over the Blue Hens. He made a total of 13 stops in the game, which was at that point a career-high for the redshirt-senior.
The Seton Hall offense was unable to come up with an equalizer after falling behind at Syracuse in the 26th minute, but Kuzan kept his team in the game with a remarkable 14 saves in the narrow defeat, once again making 10 stops in the second half. His 14 saves were just two shy of the SHU single-game record of 16, set by Sean Carr at North Carolina in 2010.
For the week Kuzan finished with a total of 27 saves, 13.5 per game, a .931 save percentage and a 1.00 goals against average. He leads the BIG EAST with 6.83 saves per game and ranks second in the conference with 41 total saves in six games played.
It is the first time in his career Kuzan has garnered BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week honors and he is the first Pirate keeper to do so since Anthony Reichwaldt received the accolade on Sept. 12, 2011.
Kuzan is enjoying a breakout season for the Pirates during his final season. He has made a career-high six starts and stopped a career-best 41 shots, both totals that eclipse his career numbers heading into this season. He has a 3-3 overall record and a team-leading 1.83 goals against average and .788 save percentage.
Seton Hall (4-5, 0-1) will have 10 days off from competition before returning to action on Wednesday, Oct. 3, when it hosts Providence College on Owen T. Carroll Field at 7 p.m.
