Pirates Close Out 2021 Season at Villanova on Wednesday

South Orange, N.J. – The Seton Hall men's soccer team will head to Villanova to round out the 2021 season. The Pirates will take on the Wildcats on Wednesday afternoon at the Higgins Soccer Complex. The action will be streamed on the BIG EAST Digital Network on FloSports with kickoff set for 3 p.m. The matchup represents the sixth time in seven seasons that the two programs will clash to end their respective regular seasons.

LAST TIME OUT
The Pirates picked up a come-from-behind win on the road at Butler last Wednesday night, 3-2. Mark Walier (Holmdel, N.J.), Luca Dahn (Kahl, Germany) and Mans Saebbo (Gothenburg, Sweden) all tallied, as the Pirates rode three first-half goals to victory.

The Pirates came out hot with early attacking runs before finally breaking through in the fifth minute. Denis Kelmendi (Falkenberg, Sweden) sent a cross to the Butler back post where it found the head of Walier. The sophomore was able to find the back of the net for the first time in his Pirate career as he put The Hall up 1-0 early.

Another look at @Mark_Walier_12's first career goal!

Pirates up 1-0 early!#HALLin 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/Wg140hmZen
— Seton Hall Men's Soccer (@SHUMSOC) October 27, 2021

Butler would quickly answer back with two tallies of their own in the 14th and 16th minutes off the foot of Tommy Visser and Wilmer Cabrera, Jr., respectively. Trailing 2-1 a little more than halfway through the first period, the Pirates were able to draw a foul just outside the Butler penalty area. Kelmendi took the free kick for the Pirates and was able to connect with Dahn who redirected the cross past the Bulldog keeper and into the net for the equalizer.

31' | GOOOOAAAAAALL!

Luca Dahn evens things at two! Give another assist to Kelmendi!#HALLin 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/igdqRHfK8j
— Seton Hall Men's Soccer (@SHUMSOC) October 27, 2021

With time ticking down in the first period of play, Andrea Borg (Sliema, Malta) made a streaking run down the field and into the Butler box where he left off a pass for Saebbo. The sophomore was able to successfully connect with his right foot and beat the Butler goalkeeper for what would eventually become the game-winning goal.

𝙈𝘼𝙉𝙎 𝙈𝘼𝙂𝙄𝘾🪄✨

Saebbo's third tally of the year has us up 3-2 before the half!#HALLin 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/qJXaP7sBRM
— Seton Hall Men's Soccer (@SHUMSOC) October 28, 2021

SCOUTING – Villanova (9-6-1, 4-4-1)

The Wildcats are coming off a nil-nil draw at Providence on Saturday. In conference play, Villanova won their first four matchups before dropping four consecutive results and currently sit in fourth in the BUG EAST standings.
The offensive leader for the Wildcats is Lyam MacKinnon. The junior leads his team in points (18), goals (seven) and assists (four).
Carson Williams has played the majority of minutes in net for the Wildcats with a 7-6-1 record on the season. Williams is sporting a 1.24 GAA and has made 52 saves with five shutouts to his credit.
The Pirates lead the all-time series 21-15-1 with the Pirates taking the previous matchup between the two programs last season in South Orange. Halfway through the first period in that one, a James Boote corner was redirected by Luca Dahn to the head of Paavo Riihijarvi who found the back of the net to put The Hall up, 1-0. Andreas Nota picked up his fourth clean sheet of the season and made two saves in the victory.

NEWS & NOTES

In the Pirates come-from-behind win at Butler last time out, Mark Walier scored his first career goal while Hannes Ronnholmen picked up a career-high five saves in net enroute to his first victory of the season. The three goals in one half are the most for the Pirates in a single half this season.
With two assists at Butler, Denis Kelmendi is now tied for the team lead in assists with five. It was also Kelmendi's second, multi-assist game of the season with the first coming in a 3-1 victory at NC State on Sept. 3.
Fourteen different Pirates have found the back of the net this season with 35 assists on 29 total goals. The Hall had tallies from 12 different players last season.
The Pirates are 6-1-0 in games where they were the first team to score. Dating back to the start of last season The Hall is a combined 14-2-1 when striking first.
As of Nov. 2, The Hall currently ranks third in the BIG EAST in total goals (29). The Pirates lead the conference and sit 16th in the nation in total assists (35).
Seven different Pirates have at least three assists this season: Johannes Pex (5), Denis Kelmendi (5), Raz Amir (4), JP Marin (4), Andrea Borg (4), Jordan Jowers (3) and James Boote (3). Overall, 12 Pirates have at least one helper on the campaign.
CJ Tibbling scored for The Hall at Creighton on Oct. 23. For Tibbling, it was his 18th career goal as a Pirate. Tibbling also tallied twice for Seton Hall against No. 1 Georgetown on Oct. 6. The multi-goal game was Tibbling's third of his career and first since the 2018 season.
In the 1-0 road victory over the Blue Demons on Oct. 13, the Pirates held DePaul without a single shot on net. The win marks Seton Hall's first road victory at DePaul in program history as well as the first time the Pirates have blanked the Blue Demons in 11 matchups between the two squads. The clean sheet in a BIG EAST road victory is the first for the Pirates since they blanked St. John's, 1-0, on Nov. 6, 2014.
Fourth in 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).
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.