BOX SCORE (.html)
BOX SCORE (.pdf)
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. A goal less than three minutes into overtime by sophomore Brayan Martinez (West Orange, N.J.) gave the Seton Hall men’s soccer team an important 3-2 win over Providence on Saturday night. The Pirates (6-5-0, 2-3-0) move past the Friars (3-4-3, 1-4-1) in the BIG EAST standings with the victory.
In the 93rd minute, senior Christian Vercollone (Pembroke, Mass.) sent a contested pass across the box to a waiting Martinez, who buried the ball into the back of the net from 10 yards out to the delight of the crowd of more than 1,300.
The Pirates seemed to have things under control after a strong first half. In the 30th minute, sophomore Samuel Petrone (Glen Rock, N.J.) hit classmate Dritan Sela (Wayne, N.J.) with a perfect diagonal pass across the box that drew Providence keeper Timothy Murray out. Sela controlled the ball and fired into an empty net from the right side for his second goal of the season and a 1-0 lead.
In the 44th minute, it was Petrone who would connect after taking a feed from Martinez on the left side and sending a rocket past Murray to make it 2-0 on his ninth tally of 2008.
The Friars regrouped at halftime and came out energized in the second half. In the 48th minute, Ryan Maduro sent a long pass down the left side to Tim Ritter, who beat sophomore SHU keeper Paul McHenry (Ephrata, Pa.) to the right to make it 2-1.
Maduro would later even the score in the 55th minute after controlling a rebound and scoring from 20 yards away.
McHenry and the Pirates’ defense came up big down the stretch, keeping the Friars’ attack in check while regulation time wound down. McHenry finished the evening with four saves while picking up his fourth win of the year. Murray was credited with five stops for Providence.
Martinez led the Hall with five shots, three of which were on goal, while Petrone totaled four attempts. Maduro paced the Friars with five shots. SHU finished the night with a 17-13 edge in shots.
The win avenges a 3-2 overtime loss a year ago at Providence.
The Pirates are back in action on Wednesday at Georgetown beginning at 3:00 p.m.
