Men's Soccer Downed By DePaul, 1-0

BOX SCORE (.html)
BOX SCORE (.pdf) 

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J.   The Seton Hall men’s soccer team dropped a tough 1-0 decision to DePaul on Friday in the BIG EAST opener for both teams.  The Pirates (4-3-0, 0-1-0) were unable to overcome an early first half goal by the Blue Demons (2-2-2, 1-0-0) as they fell in their third straight contest.

DePaul had an early scoring chance, but junior SHU keeper Paul McHenry (Ephrata, Pa.) made a beautiful breakup in a one-on-one situation to keep things even.  The Blue Demons caught a break in the 10^th minute, however, when a loose ball in front of the net was controlled by Steffen Vroom and buried into an empty net for the game’s lone score.

Once in front, DePaul packed in its defense, often having nine men in defensive positioning.  The Pirates controlled the ball for much of the game, outshooting DePaul 21-8, but only four Hall attempts made it on goal as the Blue Demon defenders effectively blocked with their bodies.

The Pirates’ best chance came midway through the second half when senior Carlos Salazar (Kearny, N.J.) worked a pretty give-and-go with sophomore Samuel Petrone (Glen Rock, N.J.).  But Salazar’s attempt went just wide and the Hall remained scoreless.

With time winding down, SHU kept firing at the goal, but sophomores Brayan Martinez (West Orange, N.J.) and Jerry Saintil (East Orange, N.J.) continually fired high or wide as they sought a crack in the DePaul defense.

Brian Visser made four stops for DePaul while picking up the shutout win.  McHenry did not record a save as DePaul failed to put a shot on goal beyond its scoring attempt.

Saintil paced all players with six shots, while Martinez recorded five and Petrone added four.

The Pirates are back in action on Sunday when they host USF at 1:00 p.m.