Seton Hall University
Drexel
Men's Soccer Plays Drexel to 3-3 Draw
9/1/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sep 1, 2013
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Led by freshman Samuel Geiler's (Offenberg, Germany) pair of scores the Seton Hall University men's soccer team played Drexel University to a 3-3 draw in an exciting back-and-forth contest on Sunday afternoon at Owen T. Carroll Field.
The match was a key early season barometer for the Pirates, who proved they were up for the challenge in what turned out to be a see-saw game with each team seeming to grab the momentum at different stages, especially through the first 50 minutes of action.
The offensive fireworks started early as Seton Hall senior Max Garcia (Jersey City, N.J.) scored the game's first goal with just 2:20 elapsed. Junior midfielder Bolu Akinyode (Lagos, Nigeria) set up the score with a long pass from midfield out to Garcia on the far side. Drexel goalkeeper Pentti Pussinen came out to play the ball but was unable to corral it, leading to an easy shot for Garcia into an empty net.
The goal was the first of the season for Garcia, who led the Pirates in 2012 with seven goals and 17 points, and now has 15 scores in his career. Akinyode notched the first assist of his career on the play.
Seton Hall dictated the run of play early in the game, and held a 9-6 advantage over Drexel in overall shot attempts in the first half, but in the 15th minute the Dragons came up with an answer to Garcia's early strike.
It was John Grosh with the game-tying shot, the first of two goals in the opening period for the talented Drexel midfielder. Nathan Page sent a ball wide to Grosh on the far side that he controlled just outside of the corner of the box. After hesitating Grosh decided to dial back and fire a shot toward the far post from 20-yards out, beating a diving save attempt from SHU keeper Julian Spindler (Weiersbach, Germany).
The other four goals all came within a six minute stretch that included the closing moments of the first half and the first several minutes of the second period.
The wild play began as Matheus Goncalves found Grosh for his second goal of the period, providing Drexel with its first lead, 2-1, with just over 2:30 remaining in the opening period.
It was a mere 93 seconds later that Geiler knotted the score at 2-2. A Drexel foul 20-yards out from net resulted in a free kick for Seton Hall and Geiler executed a majestic strike, sending a top shelf shot into net, never giving Pussinen a chance to make a play on the ball.
The fast tempo continued when the second half commenced as it was less than 90 seconds into the period that the Dragons took back the lead. Drexel's third goal was the result of a very well played free ball from more than 35-yards away from goal. Robert Liberatore sent the ball in on net, finding Ken Tribbett who managed to rise above the mass of players eight yards out from goal and head it in near post.
Drexel's lead would be extremely short lived with Geiler netting his second goal of the game and third of the season in the 49th minute. Junior Kai Greene (South Orange, N.J.) moved the ball up to Geiler on the far side and he turned down the end line to fire a ball on gaol. Pussinen made the inititial save, diving to his right to keep the ball in play, but a ricochet off a Drexel defender sent it back on net and the Dragons were unable to react quickly enough to keep Geiler from tying the game.
At that point it seemed like what had been an explosive offensive game would yield several more goals, but as both teams began to feel the effects of a hard fought contest, the second of the weekend for both teams, and the humid conditions, chances were not nearly as plentiful as the action wore on.
That is not to say the Pirates did not have several good looks at netting the game winner. Late in the second half junior Konrad Plewa (Maniowy, Poland) was orchestrating a play through traffic in the middle of the field, sliding a pass through to Geiler on the left side. Geiler controlled the perfectly played ball and sent a powerful shot toward the far post, but Pussinen was able to dive on top of the strike and trap it to the ground.
Seton Hall generated the best looks at goal in each of the overtime periods and had a strong chance at walking off with a win with only 2:50 left in the second overtime. Geiler played a pass up to Plewa on the left side, giving him space to make a solid shot toward the net, but the ball sailed over the crossbar in what was the final true scoring opportunity for either team.
Drexel finished the game with a 19-18 edge in shots, and led 7-0 in corner kick opportunities. Spindler made a career-high four saves in net for the Pirates.
Seton Hall now leads the all-time series with Drexler, 2-0-1, but it was the first meeting between the two teams since the 1999 season. It was the first tie for the Pirates since Sept. 20, 2011, when Seton Hall played top-ranked Maryland to a 0-0 draw in South Orange.
Seton Hall returns to action on Friday, Sept. 6, when it travels to West Long Branch, N.J., to take on Monmouth University. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
