BIG EAST Champion Pirates Headed to First NCAA Tournament Since 2005

South Orange, N.J. - For the first time since 2005, the Seton Hall men's soccer team is headed to the NCAA Tournament.

After their BIG EAST Championship victory on Saturday, the Pirates will represent the conference as the automatic qualifier for the 2020 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship. The Pirates are slotted in as the No. 6 overall seed and will take on Western Athletic Conference champion, Air Force on May 2. The match is set to take place at Sportsplex in Matthews, N.C., with kickoff set for approximately 8 p.m.

𝐍𝐂𝐀𝐀 𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃!

The Pirates earn the No. 6 overall seed and will take on Air Force on May 2!#HALLin 🔵⚪️ | #OnwardAndUpward pic.twitter.com/Hprni28X7V
— Seton Hall Men's Soccer (@SHUMSOC) April 19, 2021

This will be The Hall's 12^th NCAA appearance in school history. With a consolidated field of 36 teams, Seton Hall will see its first action in the second round of the tournament, the sixth time in program history the Pirates have reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament and the first since 2005. The Pirates are 5-11-1 all-time in the NCAA Tournament reaching as far as the quarter finals in 1988.

Led by third-year Head Coach Andreas Lidberg and the rest of the 2020 BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year, the Pirates exceeded expectations this season after being picked to finish second to last in the East Division of the BIG EAST coaches preseason poll.

In a historic season, the Pirates won their first BIG EAST Tournament championship since 1991 after defeating No. 2 ranked Georgetown, 2-1, in title game at Shaw Field. The Pirates also completed the Spring 2021 regular season unbeaten at home winning six of seven games at Owen T. Carroll Field. It's the first unbeaten regular season at home since The Hall went 7-0-1 at home in 2003.

In addition to honoring the coaching staff, five Pirates were named to All-BIG EAST Teams. Highlighting the selections for the Pirates are two All-BIG EAST First Team members in CJ Tibbling (Jarna, Sweden) and Luca Dahn (Kahl, Germany). After a solid season between the posts for The Hall, goalkeeper Andreas Nota (Rome, Italy) was awarded a spot on the All-BIG EAST Second Team. Rounding out the Pirates' all-conference selections with Third Team honors are JP Marin (Briarwood, N.Y.) and Johannes Pex (Stephansposching, Germany).

Following the conference tournament, Tibbling, Nota, Maurice Williams (West Orange, N.J.) and Mattias Almeida Sundell (Sweden) were named to the 2020 BIG EAST Men's Soccer Championship All-Tournament Team. Williams, who scored twice in The Hall's 4-1 victory over then-No. 17 Marquette in the semifinals was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Defensive Player while Almeida Sundell was named the Most Outstanding Offensive Player after scoring once and picking up four assists in the two wins.
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