Pirates Head South For Pair of Big Games in Florida

Fort Myers, Fla. - The Seton Hall men's soccer team is back in action this weekend and is headed south to Florida to take on a pair of challenging opponents in No. 18 Florida Gulf Coast and Florida International. The Pirates have a great opportunity to knock off two programs who are on a roll. The matchup with Florida Gulf Coast takes place Friday at 7 p.m., and the encounter with FIU occurs Sunday at 7 p.m.

SCOUTING FLORIDA GULF COAST
The Eagles landed at No. 18 in this week's United Soccer Coaches top 25 after an impressive opening weekend that saw them go on the road and knock off then-No. 13 Michigan and draw then-No. 7 Michigan State. Senior Ryan Medilah scored a hat trick in the 4-3 win over the Wolverines while senior Ivan Rosales scored the game-winner against Michigan and scored the team's lone goal against Michigan State, a penalty kick. Seton Hall and Florida Gulf Coast have never met in men's soccer before.

SCOUTING FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL
The Golden Panthers are off to a 2-0-0 start after home wins over St. Bonaventure and James Madison. Receiving votes in this week's United Soccer Coaches poll, FIU will play at Jacksonville on Friday before Sunday's matchup with the Pirates. Senior Andrew Booth was FIU's top performer last weekend with two goals against St. Bonaventure and an assist vs. James Madison. This will be the first-ever meeting on the pitch between the Pirates and Golden Panthers.

QUICK KICKS

Seton Hall won its season opener last Friday night, besting Central Connecticut State 6-0. The six goals were the most The Hall has scored in a match since scoring six against Pennsylvania on Sept. 3, 2007. The six-goal win differential was the program's highest since three +6 goal differentials in wins over Air Force, Adelphi and Pittsburgh in 2005.
Five different freshmen posted points in the season opener, including Eden O'Leary (Tel Aviv, Israel), Andrea Borg (Sliema, Malta), James Boote (Southampton, England), Denis Kelmendi (Falkenberg, Sweden) and Cyrus Darvish (Holmdel, N.J.).
The Pirates have not played a match in the state of Florida since a BIG EAST Tournament match at USF in 2006.
After leading the Pirates to six wins in his first season at the helm, head coach Andreas Lindberg is in year two of his tenure at Seton Hall.
The Pirates return 15 letterwinners who saw game action a season ago, including five starters. Among those returning is 2018 Second Team All-Conference selection CJ Tibbling (Jarna, Sweden), who led The Hall with six goals and 14 points.
The Hall added three transfers from ACC programs. Torbjorn Alseth (Trondheim, Norway) transferred from Duke University, Stephen Elias (Rye, N.Y.) transferred from NC State University, Sean MacLeod (Troon, Scotland) transferred from the University of Notre Dame.
After playing its home opener at Red Bulls Training Facility, The Hall expects to play its remaining home matches back at Owen T. Carroll Field upon completion of the venue's renovations.

STEPHEN ELIAS' HAT TRICK LANDS BIG EAST HONORS
In his first career match with Seton Hall, graduate transfer Stephen Elias (Rye, N.Y.) took three shots against Central Connecticut and scored on all three for a hat trick, all of which came in the first 59 minutes. His offensive flurry landed him BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week honors, the conference office announced on Monday, Sept. 2.

WHAT'S AHEAD
After taking on Florida Gulf Coast and Florida International, the Pirates will visit Lehigh on Saturday, Sept. 14 for a 6 p.m., match with the Mountain Hawks.