Pirates Battle St. John's in Regular Season Finale
11/7/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 7, 2013
SETTING THE STAGE
- The Seton Hall men's soccer team wraps up the regular season on Friday, Nov. 8, when it hosts the St. John's Red Storm at Owen T. Carroll Field at 3 p.m.
- The Pirates still have hope when it comes to qualifying for the 2013 BIG EAST Tournament, but the Hall no longer controls its own destiny. Seton Hall is tied with Butler and Villanova for the sixth and final playoff spot, with Butler currently holding the tiebreaker via head-to-head wins.
- Seton Hall can secure the sixth seed with a tie if Butler and Villanova both lose their regular season finals, or a win if Butler does not earn better than a tie against Xavier. A victory protects SHU from a tie with Villanova because the Pirates defeated the Wildcats 2-1 on Oct. 9.
- Butler hosts Xavier in the final regular season game of the year on Friday night at 7 p.m., while Villanova travels to Georgetown on Friday afternoon.
- Seton Hall is coming off a 2-1 loss at No. 18 Marquette last Saturday night. After giving up a goal in the eighth minute, the Pirates battled back to tie the game on a Max Garcia strike early in the second period. Marquette went on to net the game-winner in the 80th minute.
- After starting BIG EAST play with an 0-4-1 record, St. John's has responded by going 2-0-1 over its last three matches and the Red Storm are coming off a 1-0 win over Georgetown.
- Seton Hall and St. John's will be matching up for the 35th time but the first since the 2009 season when the Pirates tied the No. 15 Red Storm, 0-0, at Belson Stadium.
PIRATES CELEBRATE SENIOR DAY
Prior to kickoff against St. John's the Seton Hall men's soccer team will celebrate Senior Day, and honor the seven student-athletes who will be playing their final game at Owen T. Carroll Field. The SHU Class of 2014 includes midfielder Christian Battistesa, goalkeeper Kevin Bonder, defender Chris Garcia, midfielder Max Garcia, forward John Gurel, midfielder Kevin Matthews and forward George Velasquez.
GARCIA CONTINUES HOT STREAK
Senior midfielder Max Garcia has been the Pirates' most reliable scorer against BIG EAST competition as he leads the team with three goals, three assists and nine points in conference games, and has either scored or assisted six of Seton Hall's 10 BIG EAST goals. He has at least one point in three of the Pirates' last four games, and scored a goal in the last game at Marquette on Nov. 2.
HOME SWEET HOME
Facing a must-win game on Friday afternoon against St. John's the Pirates host the Red Storm at Owen T. Carroll field where they have performed well all season long. The Hall is 6-2-1 on its home field, where it averages 2.44 goals and 16.8 shot attempts per game. Compare that to Seton Hall's 0.62 goals per game and 11.6 shot attempts in road contests.
BARTOK RETURNS
One of Seton Hall's scoring threats in redshirt freshman Danny Bartok missed seven games due to injury but returned to the pitch to log seven minutes at Marquette on Nov. 2. Bartok has appeared in nine matches as a reserve this season and ranks fifth on the team in scoring with five points on two goals and an assist.
LOOKING AHEAD
Seton Hall is aiming to qualify for the BIG EAST Tournament as the No. 6 seed, which would send the Pirates to the conference's third-place team in a quarterfinal matchup to be played on Tuesday, Nov. 12. The BIG EAST semifinals and final will be held Friday and Sunday, Nov. 15 and 17 at PPL Park in Philadelphia, Pa.
PULLING RANK
With a 3-2 win over No. 22 Creighton Oct. 26, Seton Hall picked up its first victory over a ranked opponent this season, improving to 1-2 in those matches. It also marked the third-straight season the Pirates have at least one victory over a top-25 foe; last year Seton Hall beat then No. 14 Monmouth, 1-0, at Owen T. Carroll Field.
ASSIST MAN
Last year Max Garcia was the Pirates' leading goal scorer, tallying a team-high seven scores to pace the SHU offense. This year Garcia is still finding the back of the net, but he has also been distributing to the team's other play makers. His four assists this year represent a career-high for the fourth-year midfielder and he has aided in two scores for classmate George Velasquez and a pair of goals for freshman Samuel Geiler.
