Men's Soccer To Face St. John's, Princeton
9/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
SETON HALL vs. ST. JOHN'S
Seton Hall and St. John’s both will be looking to get back on the winning track in Thursday’s contest. The result will not count towards the BIG EAST records of the teams.
The Red Storm are 1-2-1 thus far. After a season-opening win over Fairleigh Dickinson, STJ has tied Virginia Commonwealth while losing to Fairfield and Virginia Tech.
Sophomore F Ryan Soroka leads the Red Storm with two goals and four points through four games.
Junior GK Neal Kitson has played all 380 minutes in goal for St. John’s. He has a 1.18 GAA to go along with nine saves.
SETON HALL vs. PRINCETON
Seton Hall and Princeton meet in a rematch of last year’s 3-2 overtime win for the Tigers.
Princeton stands at 0-2-0 after dropping matches to Loyola (Md.) and American to start the season.
The Tigers will host Colgate on Friday night at Princeton Stadium.
Princeton posted a 6-8-3 record a year ago, including a 1-5-1 mark in conference play. The Tigers will be the second Ivy League team faced by Seton Hall this year; the Pirates defeated Penn by a 6-2 score in their second contest of the season.
GIUSFREDI LIVING UP TO HYPE
Junior Eliseo Giusfredi has shown why he was a Preseason All-BIG EAST pick in the early going. He is second in the conference in points with nine and goals with four, while standing third in points per game with 2.25.
NCAA STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Seton Hall is currently tied for 21st in the country in scoring offense with a 2.25 goals per game average. Junior Eliseo Giusfredi is tied for sixth in the nation with a 1.0 goals per game average and tied for 16th nationally with 2.25 points per game. Junior Christian Vercollone is tied for 26th in the country with 0.67 assists per game.
HALL DROPS TWO AT MAYOR’S CUP TOURNAMENT
The Pirates suffered their first two losses of the season at the Mayor’s Cup Tournament in Oneonta, N.Y. In a match up against the fourth-ranked team in the Northeast, Syracuse, Seton Hall was unable to hold onto an early 1-0 lead and took a 2-1 loss. Junior Eliseo Giusfredi was responsible for the lone SHU goal on a shot 39 seconds into the game. In the team’s tournament finale against Hartwick, the Pirates were shutout, 3-0.
RECEIVING VOTES
The Pirates picked up nine votes in the Soccertimes.com Coaches Poll released on Sep. 4, tying them for 37th in the nation with Gonzaga.
SHU POUNDS PENN TO MOVE TO 2-0
The Pirates picked up their second win of the season on Sep. 3 with a 6-2 demolition of Penn. Junior Eliseo Giusfredi and freshman Andrew Welker each notched a pair of goals, while senior Jon Lewandowski and freshman Dritan Sela had one each. Junior Christian Vercollone picked up two assists. The six goals scored by SHU was its highest total since a seven goal outburst at Pittsburgh on October 15, 2005.
MARTINEZ NAMED BIG EAST ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Freshman Brayan Martinez was named the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week after picking up two assists in Seton Hall’s season opening win over Stony Brook on Aug. 31. Martinez, a midfielder, enjoyed a strong collegiate debut. In the 57th minute, he fed senior Justin McGrath from in front of the goal for the first Pirate score of the season. Later, his chip pass off a direct free-kick perfectly set up junior Eliseo Giusfredi for an easy goal to make it 2-0.
SEASON OPENER A SHUTOUT OVER STONY BROOK
SHU began the season in style with a 2-0 shutout of Stony Brook at Owen T. Carroll Field. Both Pirate goals came in the second half off assists from freshman Brayan Martinez. Senior Justin McGrath and junior Eliseo Giusfredi picked up the scores while sophomore goalkeeper Paul McHenry posted his second career shutout victory.
YOUTH IS SERVED
With 12 freshmen on the 25-man roster of Seton Hall, head coach Manny Schellscheidt has not been afraid to play the youngsters thus far. Seven rookies started each of the first two games: Kurt Cameron, Spencer Lawrence, Bryan Longo, Brayan Martinez, Hayden Morris, Steven Rose, and Andrew Welker.
GIUSFREDI NAMED ALL-BIG EAST
Junior forward Eliseo Giusfredi was named to the 2007 Preseason All-BIG EAST Team by the conference’s coaches. Giusfredi was a member of the 2006 All-BIG East Team after finishing the season with nine goals and four assists, including seven goals and three assists in league play.
MARTINEZ REIGNING GATORADE POTY
Freshman Brayan Martinez enters Seton Hall as likely the most heralded recruit in Pirate history. He was named the Gatorade Boys National High School Player of the Year as a senior at West Orange High School in New Jersey and is a two-time NSCAA/adidas High School All-American.
RECRUITING CLASS RANKED 18TH
Manny Schellscheidt’s 12-man freshman class was ranked 18th nationally by College Soccer News. A pair of All-Americans highlight the group: Brayan Martinez, a two-time selection as well as the Gatorade Boys National High School Player of the Year, and Hayden Morris.
