The Seton Hall men's soccer team suffered its worst defeat of the season on Tuesday evening in a 7-3 drubbing at the hands of the Princeton Tigers.
The loss drops the Pirates to 4-5-2 on the season. Princeton, now 2-6-1 overall, scored the first four goals of the match.
In the seventh minute, junior David Dubow converted a header off of a throw in and added his second goal in the 18th minute off a deflection from the corner kick to give the Tigers an early 2-0 lead.
The Hall was not able to contain the heavy offensive pressure from Princeton as they allowed two more goals in the first half.
The third goal was scored by senior Antoine Hoppenot after a through ball from senior Colby Hahn in the 25th minute.
Hoppenot was at the center of the action once again just five minutes later.
After forcing a turnover, Hoppenot fed teammate junior Matt Sanner who converted the goal from just outside the six yard box to give the Tigers a commanding 4-0 lead.
The Pirates were able to salvage a goal before the half when sophomore Anthony Reichwaldt, who changed positions from goalkeeper to forward last week, scored on a rebound in the 32nd minute.
Freshman Kai Greene struck a free kick about 20 yards away from goal but it was blocked by Matt Sanner.
The blocked ball fell right to the feet of Reichwaldt who neatly tucked it home to bring the Pirates within three.
Princeton continued its onslaught in the second half when they scored two more goals in a span of three minutes.
In the 56th minute, Matt Sanner took advantage of a mistake by freshman keeper Mario DeClerico who tried to secure the ball on a cross but dropped it, leaving Sanner free to convert his second goal of the game.
It was Antoine Hoppenot who scored the Tigers' sixth goal of the game after making a long run down the left side.
Hoppenot dribbled around his defender and chipped it up and over the keeper to hand Princeton a 6-1 advantage.
Seton Hall pulled another goal back in the 80th minute when freshman Jason Wellington received a long pass from Reichwaldt down the right flank and tucked it under the far side of the crossbar about 18 yards away from goal.
After senior Zach Wyzgoski scored Princeton's seventh goal of the night in the 88th minute, Seton Hall scored the final goal of the match in the 90th minute.
Freshman Andrew LoManto chipped the charging goalkeeper for the first goal of his career.
The loss to Princeton is Seton Hall's worst loss since the team fell 6-0 to Georgetown last season and their third loss of the season with at least a three goal margin of defeat.
The Tigers recorded 16 shots on the night, four more than the Pirates.
Shots on goal were 9-5 in favor of Princeton.
DeClerico played 71 minutes of action and recorded two saves, though he was substituted after allowing six goals.
Sophomore keeper Kevin Bonder played the final 19 minutes for the Hall and allowed one goal.
The Pirates will continue Big East play on the road this Saturday, Oct. 8 against the Pittsburgh Panthers at 7 p.m.
John Lopiano can be reached at john.lopiano@student.shu.edu
