PISCATAWAY, N.J. Senior John Raus (Stamford, Conn.) scored just before halftime off a freekick from sophomore Eliseo Giusfredi (Paterson, N.J.) to lift Seton Hall to its fifth straight win with a 1-0 victory against Rutgers at Yurcak Field on Friday night. The Pirates improved to a perfect 3-0-0 in the BIG EAST and are now 5-2-0 overall.
The Pirates got on the board just before halftime after a foul by Rutgers just outside their own goal gave SHU a free kick. Before the Scarlet Knights’ defense could reset, Giusfredi whipped a cross into the box off a quick restart where Raus found himself left alone and sent a strong header into the back of the net from 10 yards out. The goal was Seton Hall’s only real dangerous chance of the night.
Rutgers came out strong in the second half and had two chances early to draw level, but came up short. A minute after half, Tomislav Barisic collected a ball at the top of the box and sent a shot through traffic that just went wide. In the 50th minute off a corner kick, Kevin O’Connor cut through the box and sent a header that deflected high off the crossbar and was cleared before a rebound could be taken.
Seton Hall scored the only goal of the game, but were dominated 13-8 in shots and 11-0 in corner kicks. Senior Ian Joyce (Kinnelon, N.J.) collected his first shutout of the year, making seven saves. Matt Van Oekel made three saves for Rutgers.
The Pirates travel to Villanova, Pa. on Sunday, Sept. 17, for a 1:00 p.m. match against Villanova.
SCORING SUMMARY
1 2 F
Seton Hall (5-2-0, 3-0-0) 1 0 -- 1
Rutgers (1-5-0, 0-3-0) 0 0 -- 0
43:19 SHU J. Raus (4) (E. Giusfredi)
OFFICIAL STAT SUMMARY
Shots: SHU 8; RU 13.
Corner Kicks: SHU 0; RU 11.
Saves: SHU 7 (Joyce 7); RU 3 (Van Oekel 3)
Offsides: SHU 2; RU 1.
