Pirates to Host No. 4 St. John's, Saturday

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – The Seton Hall men's soccer team will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 26 when it returns to the friendly confines of Owen T. Carroll Field for a contest against BIG EAST rival and national-power No. 4 St. John's. Kick-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.

WATCH
The game will be carried live by the BIG EAST Digital Network which fans can access via Caffeine.tv or YouTube. Fans can also follow along online via live stats or listen to the contest on 89.5 FM WSOU or wsou.net.

PIRATES EDGED AT XAVIER
Senior Carlton McKenzie (Birmingham, England) scored his third goal in his last five matches, but the Pirates fell a goal short against Xavier, losing to the Musketeers, 2-1, Wednesday night at the XU Soccer Complex. McKenzie's goal came in the 70th minute to halve Xavier's lead from 2-0 to 2-1.

Coming out of the halftime break, Xavier struck quickly in the 47th minute. A throw-in went to the near corner, and Derrick Otim crossed the ball into the box, and Samson Sergi came flying in to head the ball into the net. Twenty minutes later, the Musketeers tacked on what turned out to be the game-winner when Karsen Henderlong's shot was stopped by Seton Hall junior goalkeeper Andreas Nota (Rome, Italy), but the rebound was cleaned up by Noah Boffo for a goal.

SCOUTING ST. JOHN'S
Seton Hall and St. John's will meet for the 39^th time in history on Saturday with the Red Storm owning a 24-12-3 all-time series lead. Last season, The Hall fell to St. John's 1-0 in Queens on Sept. 15. The Red Storm got on the board in the 10th minute with the first official shot of the game and was able to hold on to that 1-0 advantage the rest of the way. Nota was brilliant in net for the Pirates, making six saves and withstanding the final 12 attempts of the night for the Red Storm without conceding.

The Red Storm enter Saturday's contest ranked No. 4 in the country with a 12-2 overall record and a 5-1 mark in BIG EAST play. They are coming off a 3-0 loss against Georgetown on Wednesday in a match featuring the top two BIG EAST teams, both ranked in the Top-10 nationally. St. John's lone other loss also came to a ranked team. They fell at No. 25 Maryland on Sept. 23, 1-0, in double-overtime. In its five BIG EAST victories, St. John's has outscored its opponents, 14-1.

Entering the season, St. John's was picked to finish seventh in the 10-team BIG EAST Preseason Poll. Sophomore Skage Simonsen was named to the Preseason All-Conference Team.

QUICK KICKS

Carlton McKenzie ranks ninth in the BIG EAST with 2.50 shots per game.
Graduate student Stephen Elias (Rye, N.Y.) ranks 10^th in the conference with 0.91 points per game.
Nota ranks third in the BIG EAST with 59 saves and seventh with a .787 save percentage.
The Pirates have out-scored their opponents, 18-to-16, this season.
Elias leads the team with 10 points, teammate Carlton McKenzie is second on the squad with seven points.
Seton Hall's 138 fouls are the second-fewest in the BIG EAST this season.
On Oct. 7, junior Love Frederiksson (Angelholm, Sweden) was named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week, while goalkeeper Andreas Nota earned Weekly Honor Roll status.
On Sept. 2, Elias was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week. He was also named to the Honor Roll on Sept. 30.
Seton Hall's six goals against Central Connecticut State on Aug. 30 are tied for the most scored by any BIG EAST soccer team in a single match so far this year.

WHAT'S AHEAD
Seton Hall will return to action on Tuesday, Oct. 29 when it plays its final non-conference tilt of the season. The Pirates will host Army West Point 5:00 p.m. at Owen T. Carroll Field. The match will be carried by the BIG EAST Digital Network.