No. 20 Pirates Take on No. 10 Virginia Tech in Raleigh on Monday

South Orange, N.J. – The No. 20 Pirates will take on the No. 10-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies in Raleigh, N.C., as part of the George Tarantini Classic on Monday. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m., at the Dail Soccer Complex.

LAST TIME OUT
The Pirates picked up a 3-1 road victory over NC State (RV) on Friday night. Johannes Pex (Stephansposching, Germany) kicked off the scoring in the first half, his second tally in as many games. The Wolfpack rallied three minutes later to tie the match at one, as it stayed tied into the halftime whistle. The Pirates came out strong in the second half putting pressure on the Wolfpack backline before finally breaking through on a corner kick. Denis Kelmendi (Falkenberg, Sweden) picked up the assist for the Pirates, his second of the game, finding a leaping Luca Dahn (Kahl, Germany) to go up, 2-1. Halfway through the second period, the Pirates picked up an insurance goal on another corner. This time it was JP Marin (Briarwood, N.Y.) sending a cross in to the head of Paavo Riihijarvi (Oulu, Finland) to put the Pirates up for good, 3-1.

SCOUTING – #10 Virginia Tech (2-0-1, 0-0-0)

The Hokies are coming off a 2-1 win against UCF as part of the George Tarantini Classic in Raleigh, N.C.
Virginia Tech's first win of the season came over then-No.1 Marshall 3-2. The Hokies came back from a 2-0 halftime deficit to pull out the win.
Landon Ameres and Sivert Haugli lead the Hokies with two goals apiece while Ben Martino has played the most time between the pipes with a 1.50 Average Goals Against and seven saves in two games.
The game will be a rematch of last year's NCAA Tournament Round of 16 game that saw the Pirates advance on penalty kicks, 7-6 following a 2-2 draw after regulation and two overtime periods.
The Pirates lead the all-time series 2-0-1with the two Pirate wins coming in 2001 and 2002.

NEWS & NOTES

The ranked matchup for the Pirates will be their first of the season and first since falling to then-No. 2 Indiana, 2-0, in last year's NCAA Tournament Round of 8. The Pirates were 3-2-1 in games against Top-25 ranked teams in the United Soccer Coaches Poll last season.
Goalkeeper Andreas Nota (Rome, Italy) picked up his 11^th career shutout in the opener with Temple putting him in a tie for fourth place on the program's all-time leaderboard.
Pex's goal against NC State was his second in as many games and his five points on the season lead the team.
The goals for Dahn and Riihijarvi on Friday were their respective firsts of the season.
Kelmendi's two assists at NC State make him the first Pirate to have multiple assists in a game since Mattias Almeida Sundell (Sweden) and James Boote (Southampton, England) each had two helpers in the Pirates win over then-No. 17 Marquette in the 2020 BIG EAST Semifinal game.
Six different Pirates have now found the back of the net in three games on the young season.
With the win, Nota now moves into a tie for fifth place all-time with 23 victories to his credit as a Pirate.
The Pirates were picked second in the BIG EAST Conference Preseason Coaches Poll as the reigning BIG EAST champions were awarded 93 points including three first place votes. Georgetown took the top spot in the poll edging the Pirates by just five points while Creighton, the third team picked, was awarded 74 points.
CJ Tibbling was selected as the conference's Preseason Co-Offensive Player of the Year and was a unanimous selection for the Preseason All-BIG EAST squad. Tibbling is coming off a 2020 Second Team All-America selection as well as First Team All-BIG EAST honors. On the offensive end, Tibbling led the Pirates with seven goals and 17 points on the season to go along with three assists. With his seven tallies, Tibbling ranked second in the BIG EAST and 20th in the country in goals scored.
Luca Dahn was honored as the BIG EAST's Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and earned a spot Preseason All-BIG EAST team. Dahn was awarded a 2020 Second Team All-America selection as well as First Team All-BIG EAST honors. In his first year in a Seton Hall uniform, Dahn logged over 1500 minutes for The Hall and was on the pitch for all but nine minutes throughout the campaign. Despite lining up as a center back, Dahn also scored twice for The Hall while registering 12 shots on net, second best on the team.