Seton Hall University
Monmouth
Men's Soccer Ties Monmouth 1-1
9/6/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sep 6, 2013
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - The Seton Hall University men's soccer team saw a near victory just slip away as the Pirates played Monmouth University to a 1-1 tie on Friday night in West Long Branch, N.J.
With time ticking away in regulation and the Pirates clinging to a one goal lead, Seton Hall had trouble clearing the zone as Monmouth made its final offensive charge and with under a minute to play the Hawks finally capitalized. David Acuna Camacho switched the field by finding Emmanuel Agyemang on the near side of the SHU zone and he roofed a shot from 15-yards out to knot the score with only 52 seconds showing on the clock.
Seton Hall had its one-goal lead because of a play junior defender Mateusz Brela (Kielce, Poland) made just 18 minutes prior to Monmouth's game-tying strike. The Pirates' score came off of a corner taken by redshirt junior Victor Manosalvas (Clifton, N.J.). Manosalvas sent a cross into Brela on the near side that the 6-1 defender managed to head across the area and toward the far post.
A Monmouth defender slid in on net to attempt and clear the shot away, but the correct ruling was made that his defensive effort was too late and the ball had already crossed the goal line. The goal was the first of Brela's career while Manosalvas picked up his second assist of the season on the play.
The game started with Seton Hall in control of the pace of play and senior Max Garcia (Jersey City, N.J.) nearly provided his team with an early edge in the seventh minute. Sophomore Eric Lagg (Lafayette, N.J.) lined a cross to Garcia that he made a diving attempt to head near post, only to see his shot sail wide.
Monmouth's best chance of the first half came in the 18th minute. Freshman keeper Julian Spindler (Weiersbach, Germany) made an outstanding save as Francois Navarro fielded a pass in the middle of the box 15-yards out from net. Spindler closed in to take away a scoring angle and laid out to block the shot. The rebound bounced out to Jacob Rubinstein on the far side and he immediately sent it back in only to see senior outside back Chris Garcia (Rutherford, N.J.) swoop in and make a sliding save.
Six minutes later it was Max Garcia nearly connecting with Lagg on a cross through the box. Max Garcia sprinted around a defender on the right side to create enough space to send a pass to a wide open Lagg on the far side, but the ball sailed just past his head and he was unable to find the net.
In the first overtime period neither team managed to generate a strong offensive opportunity and Monmouth controlled the run of play, maintaining the momentum generated from the late score. That changed once the second overtime commenced and the Pirates nearly grabbed the win with 5:40 remaining. Lagg found Max Garcia for a shot on net that he sent toward the near post, but Monmouth keeper Stephen Graziani dove to his left to dive on the ball.
Seton Hall finished with a 12-9 edge in shot attempts while corner opportunities were tied 7-7. Max Garcia recorded a team high four shots while Lagg sent a pair of attempts on net early in the game.
After lasting all of 2012 without a tie the Pirates have now tied back-to-back games; it is the first time Seton Hall has had consecutive contests end in a draw since the 2007 season. It was also the first-ever draw in the series with Monmouth, which Seton Hall now leads 6-5-1.
Seton Hall (1-0-2) returns to action on Tuesday, Sept. 10, when it hosts the University of Delaware at Owen T. Carroll Field at 7 p.m.
