Seton Hall University
Rhode Island
Men's Soccer Beats Rhode Island, 3-0
8/30/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Aug 30, 2013
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Behind a two-goal performance from junior midfielder Konrad Plewa (Maniowy, Poland) the Seton Hall University men's soccer team opened the 2013 season with a dominating 3-0 victory over the University of Rhode Island on Friday night at Owen T. Carroll Field.
Plewa, who led Seton Hall last season with five assists, found his offensive groove early on Friday night, netting Seton Hall's first goal of the season and the first of his career in the 28th minute.
The score was set up by sophomore Eric Lagg (Lafayette, N.J.), who sent an arching pass over the Rhode Island defense for Plewa to run down. Once he controlled the expertly placed ball he had a one on one opportunity against URI keeper Thomas Spenser, and he easily beat Spenser with a low shot to the center of the net.
Plewa's second score of the night was an insurance goal that came in the 84th minute as the Pirates were already comfortably ahead 2-0 and in firm control of the game. Senior Chris Garcia (Rutherford, N.J.) started the play with a pass up the far side to redshirt-junior Victor Manosalvas (Clifton, N.J.), who moved the ball forward to Plewa in space near the top of the box.
Once the pass was controlled Plewa took a few dribbles up field before launching a shot into the upper 90 toward the far post. Manosalvas recorded his first assist since the 2010 season, after sitting out all of last year with an injury, and Garcia's helper was the second of his career.
Seton Hall was already comfortably ahead when Plewa scored his second goal because of a play freshman Samuel Geiler (Offenberg, Germany) made just six minutes earlier. Junior Alex Megna (Hales Corners, Wis.) centered a ball to senior John Gurel (Istanbul, Turkey) at the 18-yard line only to see Gurel quickly met by a Rhode Island defender. He held firm and shook off the contact to keep the play alive and move the ball up to Geiler who smashed a shot into the back of the net.
Seton Hall had several near misses in the first half before finally breaking through in the 28th minute. Fewer than three minutes into the game Geiler nearly put the Pirates on the board by bending in a line drive shot from 15-yard out, only to see Spenser make a diving save to his left.
In the 21st minute junior Kai Greene (South Orange, N.J.) controlled on the far side and sent a precision cross to Plewa inside the 10-yard line, but his header ricocheted squarely off the crossbar. A mere 60 seconds later Lagg very nearly connected with Manosalvas by sending a through ball for him to chase down in the area, but Spenser came out to meet him and made the save at point blank range.
Senior Max Garcia (Jersey City, N.J.) led Seton Hall in scoring last season with seven goals and came close to scoring his first of the season with just over 17 minutes to play. Following a foul call 22-yards out from net Garcia bent a line drive shot around the URI defensive wall toward the far post, but Spenser dove to his left side to keep the ball in play.
The Pirates outshot Rhode Island 19-5 and limited the Rams to just one shot on goal as freshman keeper Julian Spindler (Weiersbach, Germany) recorded a one save shutout in his first-career start.
Friday night's meeting was the first-ever between Seton Hall and Rhode Island. The victory was the first in a season opener for the Pirates since the 2008 season.
Seton Hall returns to action on Sunday, Sept. 1, when it hosts Drexel University at Owen T. Carroll Field in South Orange, N.J. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
