Hall Hosts No. 18 George Mason Friday
9/18/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Seton Hall Match Notes 
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George Mason is 5-0 and shutout Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Hartwick last weekend at home. The Patriots have outscored their opponents 13-1 so far this season and are led by Timi Mulgrew, one of the national leaders in scoring with six goals already in 2014.
Seton Hall and George Mason have met just three times in their program's histories, and will play one another in consecutive seasons for the first time. Last year, the Patriots used a second-half goal to grab a 1-0 win, their first in the series. Seton Hall was limited to a season-low four shot attempts. George Mason is making just its second-ever trip to Owen T. Carroll Field and the first since 2004.
So far this season the Pirates have relied on a pair of upperclassmen in redshirt senior Victor Manosalvas and senior Kai Greene to provide the offensive spark. Both players are already enjoying career-best offensive numbers, with Manosalvas leading the team with four goals and nine points, while Greene has scored three times.
After finding the back of the net three times in a pair of matches last week, Manosalvas earned BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week accolades for the first time in his career.
Manosalvas and sophomore Samuel Geiler have seen a role reversal early this season. A year ago Geiler let the team in scoring with eight goals and four assists, but so far in 2014 he has been the team's leading setup man with three assists. Last year, Manosalvas led the Pirates with five assists, but is the team's top goal scorer during the early stages of the season.
The Patriots will be playing just their second road game of the year, defeating American, 1-0, in the first week of the season. While Mulgrew leads the offense with six goals, the Patriots feature another dangerous goal scorer in Henning Dirks, who has three strikes.
QUICK HITS
- George Mason is the second team ranked in the NSCAA Top-25 Poll the Pirates will face this season. Seton Hall lost at No. 21 Delaware, 3-2, last week on the road.
- After scoring three goals in the Pirates' two matches last week, redshirt senior midfielder Victor Manosalvas was named the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career.
- Manosalvas continues to lead Seton Hall in scoring with four goals and nine points, both of which represent new career-highs.
- Senior forward Kai Greene has scored a career-high three goals. Combined, Manosalvas and Greene have accounted for seven of Seton Hall's nine goals this season.
- Sophomore midfielder Samuel Geiler has yet to find the back of the net, but he has been excelling at setting up teammates with three assists so far this year, including two against Princeton on Sunday.
- George Mason ranks third in the nation in shutout percentage (.800) and the Patriots are also in the top-10 nationally in scoring, with their 2.6 goals per game ranking eighth in the country.
- Senior Timi Mulgrew leads George Mason in scoring with six goals and two assists for 14 points. His goals and points per game both rank third nationally.
SERIES HISTORY VS. GEORGE MASON
Seton Hall and George Mason will be meeting for the fourth time, and in back-to-back seasons for the first time in the series' history. The all-time series is tied 1-1-1, with the Patriots taking last year's matchup, 1-0, down in Fairfax, Va. This will be the second-ever trip to South Orange for George Mason, which last played at Owen T. Carroll Field in 2004, resulting in a 5-3 Seton Hall victory. Last year the Patriots held Seton Hall to a season-low four shot attempts.
MANOSALVAS NAMED BIG EAST OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After scoring three total goals against Delaware and Princeton, redshirt senior Victor Manosalvas was named the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 15, for the first time in his career. Manosalvas is the first Pirate to earn the award since Samuel Geiler did so on Sept. 2, 2013, and it is the first time he has received any conference weekly accolade. His two goals against Princeton on Sept. 14, were a career-best, and came just over eight minutes apart in the second half.
NATIONAL NUMBERS
Redshirt senior Victor Manosalvas is not only one of the BIG EAST's offensive leaders through the first three weeks of the season, but he ranks in the top 10 nationally in several key categories as well. Through the Pirates' first four games of the season he has tallied four goals and an assist for nine points. He is currently seventh in Division I in points per game (2.25) and fourth in goals per game (1.0).
