MSOC Opens Season at URI, Hosts UMass Lowell
8/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
PIRATES OPEN THE SEASON WITH HOME AND AWAY WEEKEND MATCHUPS
Seton Hall will play a pair of matchups over Labor Day weekend to get the 2014 season underway. The Hall travels to Kingston, R.I., to face the University of Rhode Island on Friday, Aug. 29, at 7 p.m., before returning home to host UMass Lowell on Sunday, Aug. 31, at 1 p.m. This will be the second-straight season the Pirates open up with the Rams. Behind a pair of goals from midfielder Konrad Plewa, Seton Hall defeated Rhode Island, 3-0, last year in South Orange. SHU has never faced UMass Lowell in program history.
QUICK HITS
- The Pirates are opening the season away from Owen T. Carroll Field for the first time since the 2010 season, when they played a pair of games in North Carolina, tying third-ranked Wake Forest, 2-2, in the first match of the year, before falling at fourth-ranked North Carolina two days later.
- The Pirates went 2-0 in preseason action, picking up a 3-2 win over Rider, and a 3-0 victory over Bloomfield College. Senior Kai Greene starred in both games, scoring twice against the Broncs before recording a hat trick in the win over Bloomfield.
- Overall Seton Hall returns nine starters and 20 letterwinners from last year's squad, including five of its top seven scorers from a season ago.
- Sophomore midfielder Samuel Geiler was named Preseason All-BIG EAST after leading the Pirates in goals scored (8) and points (20), during his stellar rookie campaign. His efforts resulted in a spot on the conference All-Rookie Team at the end of the 2013 season.
SERIES HISTORY VS. RHODE ISLAND
This will be the second-ever meeting between Seton Hall and Rhode Island and the second-straight season the Pirates will face the Rams in their season opener. Last year in South Orange, midfielder Konrad Plewa scored twice in a 3-0 Seton Hall victory, netting what proved to be the game-winner in the 28th minute, while tacking on a second strike late in the second half.
SERIES HISTORY VS. UMASS LOWELL
Seton Hall's home opener will mark the first-ever meeting between the Pirates and UMass Lowell. The Red Hawks are the only team on the schedule that SHU is facing for the first time.
SETON HALL IN SEASON OPENERS
Since the inception of the BIG EAST starting with the 1985 season Seton Hall is 17-9-3 overall in its first game of the season and the Pirates are 17-8-3 in their first home game of a season. Second-year head coach Gerson Echeverry is 1-1 in season and home openers, as the Pirates picked up a 3-0 win over Rhode Island last season in their season opener at Owen T. Carroll Field.
PRESEASON ALL-BIG EAST
Coming off a stellar rookie campaign that earned him a spot on the BIG EAST All-Rookie team, sophomore midfielder Samuel Geiler was selected as one of 15 members of the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team when the conference preseason awards were announced on Aug. 19. Geiler started all 18 games in the midfield for the Pirates last season, leading the team in goals (8) and points (20) while also racking up four assists. During BIG EAST play, he was second on the team in scoring with two goals and two assists. He was named the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week after scoring three times over the first week of his collegiate career and netted a pair of game-winners on the season.
