On Friday, the Seton Hall men’s soccer team returned to Owen T. Carroll Field to host the University of Pennsylvania Quakers. This game comes after they lost to Saint Louis University in their first away game of the season—and the first ever meeting between the two programs—on Aug. 30.
En route to a 1-0 victory, the Billikens outshot SHU 10-to-4—a season low for the Pirates—and 3-to-1 in shots on goal. SHU also lost senior defender Konstantin Donalies, who was shown a red card in the 64th minute of the game, and missed the rest of the match.
With the win, Saint Louis improved to 2-0-1 on the season and earned the No. 16 position in this week’s United States Coaches Poll. Just five spots below them in the poll are the Quakers, who enter this game as the No. 21 ranked team in the nation. The team was also voted to finish first in the conference in the Ivy Preseason Poll for the third year in a row. After going 14-4-1 on the season and 7-0 in conference play, Penn won the Ivy League Regular Season Title last year.
Hosting them for the first time since 2016, the Pirates look to get back in the win column and improve on their all-time record against the Quakers, which stands at 12-3-2.
After receiving a red card against Saint Louis, Donalies was forced to serve a one-game suspension and watch this game from the sidelines as it kicked off. Also absent from the game was sophomore forward Mikkel Lejbowicz, SHU’s leading goal scorer (2), who missed the previous game as well due to injury. His replacement was Uri Koffi, a freshman forward from Maryland, making the first start of his collegiate career.
Although Penn started with possession, SHU managed to record the first shot of the game. In the 11th minute, senior midfielder Nico Rubio made space for a shot inside Penn’s box before it was saved and secured by Penn senior goalkeeper David Howard. 20 minutes later, the Quakers responded with their best shot attempt of the half: a cross from the right wing found Penn senior defender Oliver Pratt for a header in front of goal before SHU senior goalkeeper Matias Molina used his quick reflexes to parry the shot over the crossbar for one of his best saves of the season so far.
With a close-range effort by SHU freshman midfielder Giacomo Mana saved by Howard in the 37th minute, the Pirates recorded their fifth shot of the game—already surpassing their total from the previous game in just the first half. They would manage just one more shot before halftime, as they led 6-to-4 in total shots and 2-to-1 in shots on goal.
Despite both teams creating quality chances on goal, neither was able to break the deadlock in the first half. Going into the second, both teams looked to change that, with SHU motivated to upset a nationally ranked opponent, and Penn looking to prove why they earned that ranking.
The teams continued to trade chances in the second half, with the most action coming in the final minutes of the game. In the 86th minute, sophomore midfielder Til Kauschke, the team’s usual penalty kick taker, was substituted off the pitch. After Penn junior defender Connor Dawson nearly scored a backpost header to seal the game, Rubio then took the ball down the field and earned a penalty kick for the Pirates in the 88th minute.
With Kauschke subbed off just minutes before, SHU senior defender and team captain Augustin Resch stepped up to take the kick. With the game hanging in the balance, Resch aimed for the bottom right corner of the goal—but his effort was stopped by Howard, as he made an incredible, clutch save to keep the game scoreless. It would be the last shot of the game for either team, as the match ended in a 0-0 draw.
At full time, SHU managed to double their shot attempts from the first half in the second, finishing the game with a 12-to-7 advantage in total shots. They also led the game in shots on goal, with five compared to Penn’s two; and yet, despite this shot differential, neither team was able to stake their claim on the game, as it ended scoreless and with total possession leaning just four percent in SHU’s favor (52%)—a pretty even contest, all things considered.
After the game, SHU head coach Andreas Lindberg gave kudos to Penn, as well as his own team, who he believes can compete with the best.
“Penn is a good team: they’re very organized, and very difficult to deal with in transition,” Lindberg said. “But I thought we did pretty good today.”
“I think we can play with just about anybody,” he added. “We’re a pretty good team, especially at home; we’re difficult to beat, and we have some really good players.”
Coach Lindberg also said that although “a tie was probably deserved,” given how even the game was, the team was disappointed not to have secured the win with the penalty kick in the final minutes of the game.
“It’s like, ‘good job,’ ‘good fight,’ and we move on,” he said. “But this is going to sting a little bit because of that.”
Nonetheless, he encouraged his team to “stay positive” and to take pride in their performance—after all, they managed to hold their own against a nationally ranked opponent.
“Even though it wasn’t the result we necessarily wanted, we should still feel pretty good about this game,” Lindberg said.
Yet to earn a win since their season opener, SHU will look to do so on Thursday, Sept. 11, as they host Sacred Heart University in the second of five consecutive home games at Owen T. Carroll Field.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor for The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
