Pirates Head to Chicago, Take on DePaul Wednesday

South Orange, N.J. – Following a stretch of two games at home, the Pirates will hit the road for two matchups this week. First, the Pirates will head to Chicago, Ill., where they will take on the likes of the DePaul Blue Demons on Wednesday. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. EST at Wish Field and will be streamed on the BIG EAST Digital Network on FloSports.

LAST TIME OUT
The Pirates fell in a defensive battle with Xavier, 1-0, at Owen T. Carroll Field on Saturday. In a matchup that saw only three total shots on goal between the two sides, the Musketeers defeated the Pirates with a tally in the 71st minute.

One of the Pirates' best chances came in the 88th minute when Maurice Williams (West Orange, N.J.) sent a ball deep from his position on the back line where it found senior Luca Dahn (Kahl, Germany) and sophomore Mattias Almeida Sundell (Sweden) in the box. Dahn flicked the ball backwards and Almeida Sundell was the one to put a decent strike on the ball but the chance was saved.

SCOUTING – DePaul (6-4-1, 2-1-0)

The Blue Demons are coming off a 1-1 draw at then-No. 25 Providence in double overtime. Scoreless through the first half, the Friars scored first but were quickly answered exactly two minutes later with an unassisted tally from Michael Anderson, his first goal of the season.
Offensively, DePaul is led by Marek Gonda and Jack Richards who each have a team-leading four tallies on the season.
In net, Gandhi Cruz has played every minute for the Blue Demons between the pipes. Cruz has made 42 saves with a 1.16 GAA through 11 games this season.
The Blue Demons lead the all-time series 5-3-2 with the Pirates taking the previous matchup between the two squads in 2019. CJ Tibbling (Jarna, Sweden) tallied on a penalty kick in the 2-1 victory.

NEWS & NOTES

CJ Tibbling tallied twice for Seton Hall against No. 1 Georgetown. For Tibbling, it was his 16th and 17^th tallies as a Pirate. The multi-goal game was Tibbling's third of his career and first since the 2018 season.
Leading the BIG EAST with a team-leading 15 points, Johannes Pex converted his second and third penalty kicks of the season at Fordham earning him a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll. The tallies for Pex were just 62 seconds apart and served as his second career multi-goal game with his first coming in last season's season-opener at NJIT. Pex also tallied twice and picked up an assist across wins against Delaware and NC State earning BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week honor (9/6). The junior was also named to College Soccer News' National Team of the Week. Pex was also selected to the conference's weekly honor roll following his three assists against NJIT (9/10).
Thirteen different Pirates have now found the back of the net this season with 30 assists on 24 total goals. The Hall had tallies from 12 different players last season.
As of Oct. 12, The Hall currently ranks 26th in the nation and is second in the BIG EAST in total goals (24). The Pirates also sit at the top of the conference and eighth in the nation in total assists (30).
With assists against Providence, Raz Amir and Denis Kelmendi each picked up their respective fourth helpers on the season. Five different Pirates have at least three assists to their credit: Johannes Pex, JP Marin, Raz Amir, Denis Kelmendi and Jordan Jowers. Eleven Pirates have at least one helper on the campaign.
The Seton Hall men's soccer team was picked second in the BIG EAST Conference Preseason Coaches Poll as the reigning BIG EAST champions were awarded 93 points including three first place votes. Georgetown took the top spot in the poll edging the Pirates by just five points while Creighton, the third team picked, was awarded 74 points.
Senior CJ Tibbling was selected as the conference's Preseason Co-Offensive Player of the Year and was a unanimous selection for the Preseason All-BIG EAST squad. Tibbling is coming off a 2020 Second Team All-America selection as well as First Team All-BIG EAST honors. On the offensive end, Tibbling led the Pirates with seven goals and 17 points on the season to go along with three assists. With his seven tallies, Tibbling ranked second in the BIG EAST and 20th in the country in goals scored.
Senior Luca Dahn was honored as the BIG EAST's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and earned a spot Preseason All-BIG EAST team. Dahn was awarded a 2020 Second Team All-America selection as well as First Team All-BIG EAST honors. In his first year in a Seton Hall uniform, Dahn logged over 1500 minutes for The Hall and was on the pitch for all but nine minutes throughout the campaign. Despite lining up as a center back, Dahn also scored twice for The Hall while registering 12 shots on net, second best on the team.