Seton Hall University
Princeton
Men's Soccer Comes Up Just Short at Princeton
9/15/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Sept. 15, 2013
PRINCETON, N.J. - The Seton Hall University men's soccer team lost to the Princeton Tigers, 1-0, on Sunday afternoon at Myslik Field in Princeton, N.J.
The matchup was the second road game in three days for Seton Hall, which fell at George Mason, 1-0, on Friday night in Fairfax, Va. The Pirates fall to 2-2-2 on the year while Princeton improved to 1-2-0.
The only goal of the game came in the 63rd minute as Thomas Sanner brought the ball up the left side of the field, working his way around at Seton Hall defender to cross the ball out to Nico Hurtado. Hurtado settled and fired far post, only to have Pirate keeper Julian Spindler (Weiersbach, Germany) lay out to his right to make a diving save. Unfortunately the rebound landed on the foot of Bryan Windsor, and he easily scored into an open net for the first goal of his career.
Prior to Windsor's score the Pirates had dictated play for much of the game. Seton Hall held a 7-2 advantage in shots in the first half, sending the only two shots on net in the game during the opening period and freshman Samuel Geiler (Offenberg, Germany) and senior Max Garcia (Jersey City, N.J.) sent strong shots toward the goal early in the second half, barely missing wide of the frame.
With just 33 minutes to play, only a few minutes before Princeton's game winner, Seton Hall had its strongest look at a goal to that point. Garcia made a precision pass through the area, just in front of the mouth of the goal, missing a pair of defenders but failing to connect with a teammate.
The Tigers continued to apply the pressure on the offensive end despite already holding a 1-0 lead, which prohibited Seton Hall from manufacturing many chances to net the equalizer as the second half wore on.
Finally as the clock dipped below five minutes to play the Pirates found the surge they were looking for and very nearly tied the game in 87th minute, only to see Princeton keeper Seth MacMillan turn a point-blank shot away.
Geiler took a corner kick and passed the ball into the middle of the area where the Tigers were unable to clear. Senior Kevin Matthews (Ambler, Pa.) shielded a defender and bumped a pass with his body over to junior Bolu Akinyode (Lagos, Nigeria) at the far post, only 10-feet out from the net. MacMillan reacted perfectly and moved into a position to stop Akinyode's attempt, and the Tiger defense cleared the ball out of harm's way.
The Pirates finished the game with a 15-10 advantage in shots and a 4-3 edge in shots on goal.
Seton Hall returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 21, when it hosts Bucknell University at Owen T. Carroll Field. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.
