No. 23 Pirates Set for Saturday Showdown at Harvard

South Orange, N.J. – The No. 23 Seton Hall men's soccer team looks to bounce back from its first loss of the season on Saturday at Harvard.

LAST TIME OUT

The Pirates were handed a 1-0 defeat on Monday night on the road at No. 10 Indiana. A 63^rd minute goal from Samuel Sarver proved to be the difference in the match. The goal conceded by Seton Hall was its first goal allowed all season.
SCOUTING HARVARD

Harvard enters Saturday's match sporting a 0-1-1 record so far in 2023.
The Crimson have yet to find the back of the net through two matches this season, playing Rhode Island to a scoreless draw in the season opener before a 1-0 loss to Marquette last time out.
Harvard's back line has been strong so far in 2023, led by starters Nik White and Jan Reicke who have each played full time through the team's first two matches.
This will be the first matchup all-time between Seton Hall and Harvard. The Pirates are 38-25-10 all-time against Ivy League foes.

NEWS & NOTES

The Pirates are ranked No. 23 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, entering the rankings for the first time since Sep. 14, 2021.
The goal allowed on Monday ended the Pirates' scoreless streak at 332:38, setting a new program record for shutout streak to begin a season. The mark was previously set back in 2005.
Seton Hall opened the season with a 3-0 record for the first time since 2008.
Boote scored goals in back-to-back matches to open the season after entering the season with just one goal scored in his previous 65 career games.
With the season opening win over Rider on Aug. 24, the Pirates improve to 5-0-3 in season openers dating back to 2016.
MATS ROORDA was named BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week on Aug. 28 for his efforts in posting a pair of shutouts against Rider and Air Force. Boote was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll after his five-point week.
The Pirates face another challenging slate of matches in 2023, highlighted by five teams who made the NCAA Tournament last season. Included in those are matchups with Indiana and Creighton, both of whom made it all the way to the College Cup last fall.
The Hall welcome 12 new faces to the program, including several potential impact transfers: Rikard Cederberg (Bellarmine), Mats Roorda (Binghamton), Jared Smith (Quinnipiac) and Tim Strobeck (Clemson).
Three Pirates are capitalizing on their extra year of eligibility to return to Seton Hall as graduate students in 2023. James Boote, Andrea Borg and Hugo Keller will all suit back up for The Hall this season. All told, 19 players from last year's squad are back for the Pirates in 2023.
Starting this season, the Pirates will be vying to finish inside the top-eight in the BIG EAST standings. With the addition of Akron to the league as a men's soccer affiliate member, the now-12 team conference has been split into an East Division and Midwest Division. Each division winner will qualify for the BIG EAST Championship, with the next six best teams based on conference points solidifying the remaining berths.
Seton Hall was picked to finish fourth in the East Division. The Pirates received 36 points in the poll and sit behind third-place St. John's (40 points), second-place Providence (56 points) and first-place Georgetown (66 points).
The Pirates finished last season in second place in the BIG EAST standings after amassing 17 points during conference play. The second place finish in the program's best since winning the regular season title back in 1991, while the 17 points in league action were the program's most since 2006.