Seton Hall University
Villanova
Hall Picks up 1-1 Tie at Villanova
10/15/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
VILLANOVA, PA. - The Seton Hall University men's soccer team improbably came back to tie Villanova, 1-1, on a Kai Greene (South Orange, N.J.) penalty kick in the 88th minute on Wednesday afternoon at the Villanova Soccer Complex.
The hard fought road result came after the Pirates were forced to play the final 7:08 of regulation and both overtime periods down a man, and Greene's PK conversion was actually the third attempt of the day for the Pirates, who had the first two cleared away by Will Steiner earlier in the half.
Seton Hall is now 0-3-1 in BIG EAST play, and earned its first BIG EAST road point in nearly five years; since a 1-1 tie at Providence on Oct. 17, 2009. It was also the first tie in 31 all-time meetings between The Hall and Villanova (6-5-2, 1-2-1), a series SHU now leads 19-11-1.
The Pirates (3-6-3, 0-3-1) were trailing, 1-0, when the first PK opportunity came at 70:54; and all three were a result of a handball in the area. After several failed attempts to make a clear an errant pass hit a defender's arm, leading to the whistle. Redshirt senior Victor Manosalvas (Clifton, N.J.) took the shot for The Hall, aiming low and to his right, but Steiner made a diving stop resulting in the first missed PK of the year for SHU.
It seemed as if hope for a comeback was dashed 12 minutes later when freshman Lukas Pangonis (Kaunas, Lithuania) was ejected after receiving his second yellow card of the game, forcing the Pirates to attempt to tie the game with only 10 position players.
However, fewer than four minutes later the Wildcats were once again called for a handball, giving the Pirates another chance, only again failed to capitalize. Sophomore Samuel Geiler (Offenburg, Germany) attempted a shot to nearly the same spot as Manosalvas, and Steiner made nearly the save.
This time the deflection rolled out of the backline, leading to a Seton Hall corner. After Geiler passed it into the zone, Providence made a quick attempt to clear, but amazingly the Wildcats were penalized for a handball for a third time, the latest coming mere moments after the second.
Greene was the next man up to take his shot at tying the game, and this time his conversion was true, stutter stepping towards the net before firing hard and low, straight to the middle of the net, his fifth goal of the season.
To earn a point would still be an uphill climb, down a man heading to extra time, but Seton Hall actually nearly won the game thanks to Geiler's left foot. After beating a defender up the middle of the field four minutes into the first OT, Geiler broke it outside to his left and then ripped a surprising shot far post from 25-yards out. Steiner was caught off guard and dove to his left, missing the ball, which hit the post and bounced out of play.
Despite being outmanned and failing to control the possession, Seton Hall did not relinquish many good look during the overtime period. The Wildcats' only shot on goal came early in double overtime, but Julian Spindler (Weiersbach, Germany) made the save on the Oscar Umar attempt, his sixth of the match.
Villanova's goal in the 68th minute came after Pangonis was handed his first card of the match, fouling a defender on the break 30-yards out from net. Off the restart Villanova failed to create a shot, but the long cross was defended out of play, leading to a corner and ultimately a goal.
Umar passed to Colton Bryant in the area and he directed a shot toward the right post where Hayden Harr swooped in to head it on net and give his team the lead.
Seton Hall returns to action this Saturday afternoon, when it hosts No. 3 Georgetown University at Owen T. Carroll Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
