Pirates Host Rider to Kick Off 2022 Campaign

South Orange, N.J. – The Seton Hall men's soccer team kicks off the 2022 season on Thursday night at Owen T. Carroll Field as the Pirates host Rider at 6:56 p.m.

LAPTOP SLEEVE GIVEAWAY
The first 700 students in attendance for Thursday's soccer doubleheader will receive a Seton Hall laptop sleeve. The women's soccer team plays at 4 p.m. against NJIT, with the men's game to follow.

PREVIEWING 2022
The Pirates face a tough slate of six non-conference matches to begin the 2022 season, four of which will be away from home. Of those six non-league foes, five of them finished last season with a winning record. The toughest early season test for the Pirates will be a trip out west to face No. 5 Oregon State, a team that entered last year's NCAA Tournament as the top overall seed. This year, the Pirates will take on five teams who finished inside the top-25 in RPI last season (Oregon State: 2, Georgetown: 4, Providence: 14, Creighton: 17, Villanova: 23). The Pirates will also face seven teams that reached the NCAA Tournament in 2021, all of which won at least one match.

The Hall will be facing some of the top teams in the country this season. Along with preseason No. 5 Oregon State, the Pirates also have preseason No. 2 Georgetown on their conference slate. This marks the first time since 2010 that Seton Hall will face two preseason top-five teams in the United Soccer Coaches rankings in the same season.

SCOUTING RIDER (10-7-3, 5-4-1 MAAC in 2021)

Rider is coming off a season in which it recorded its best winning percentage since 2017 en route to a trip to the MAAC Championship Game, where the Broncs fell to Marist in PK's
The Broncs are picked second in the MAAC entering this season, led by Preseason Player of the Year and reigning-MAAC Offensive Player of the Year Zaki Alibou
Alibou led Rider last season with 10 goals and 25 points, while adding five assists
Rider has won each of the last three meetings against Seton Hall, with the Pirates' last victory over the Broncs coming in 2013
The series history between the two sides dates back to 1939

NEWS & NOTES

Three Pirates return to the pitch in 2022 as graduate students, as All-BIG EAST Third Team honoree Luca Dahn (Kahl, Germany) joins JP Marin (Briarwood, N.Y.) and Paavo Riihijarvi (Oulu, Finland). The trio combined for seven goals and 18 points during the 2021 season.
Fellow All-BIG EAST Third Teamer Johannes Pex (Stephansposching, Germany) enters his senior season, fresh off a campaign where he led the Pirates offensively with five goals, five assists and 15 points.
Andreas Lindberg sits just four wins away from 200 for his career as he enters his fifth season as Head Coach.
The Pirates are unbeaten in season openers since Lindberg took over prior to the 2018 season, boasting a 2-0-2 record.
Seton Hall has been impressive in home non-conference matches during Lindberg's tenure, posting a 7-1-2 record in that span
Fourteen different Pirates found the back of the next last season. Of that group, nine of them return for the 2022 season.
This season's roster boasts 12 freshmen, the most since the 2018 team which also featured 12 freshmen.
The Pirates also welcome in a pair of transfers: junior Quenzi Huerman (Vannes, France) from Palm Beach Atlantic, and sophomore Tyler Hutchinson (Cliffside Park, N.J.) from Clemson