To begin conference play, the Seton Hall’s men’s soccer team hosted Providence at Owen T. Carroll Field on Friday night.
After an intense and physical match, the Pirates earned a hard-fought 2-0 win over the Friars. The win came down to SHU capitalizing off of set pieces, with them scoring on a free kick early on in the first half and converting a penalty late in the second.
Early in the game, the Pirates earned a free kick just outside the Friars’ box. Senior midfielder and set-piece specialist, Axel Berglund, took the free kick, with his shot deflecting off of the nearside goalpost.
With Providence freshman goalkeeper Ryan Carney down from diving to try to stop Berglund’s shot, Pirates’ senior defender Augstin Resch followed the shot and scored the rebound off the post to give SHU the lead–all of this within just the first four minutes of the game.
The rest of the first half remained scoreless but still very eventful as the Friars dominated offensive play, having recorded seven shots to the Pirates’ three—with five of Providence’s shots by senior forward Bruno Rosa, who was named to the 2025 All-Big East Preseason Team.
The pressure by the Friars’ offense allowed for the Pirates’ defense to shine, with SHU senior goalkeeper Matias Molina making five saves in the first half alone.
The start of the second half was a bit slower than the first, as both teams traded possession for the first 15 minutes before SHU thought they scored a second goal.
After the Pirates won a free kick in their own half, Molina launched the ball up the pitch. The ball then fell to sophomore forward Mikkel Lejbowicz, who chipped the ball over Carney and into the net. The goal was disallowed after the assistant referee deemed Lejbowicz was offside, and the game remained at 1-0.
After the call, Providence upped their attack, looking to level the score. They were unable to do as they were foiled by offsides calls of their own and great one-on-one defense by the Pirates.
SHU had a chance to put away the game in the 84th minute as freshman midfielder Til Kauschke was tackled inside the box and earned a penalty kick.
Kauschke had previously taken three penalties for Seton Hall and converted all of them, earning the trust of both his coaches and teammates: while awaiting the kick, Lejbowicz was seen at the spot with the ball before he handed it over to Kauschke to take the kick.
Kauschke proved once again why the team trusts him with penalty kicks: in almost the same fashion as last game, Kauschke sent Carney diving in the wrong direction to double the Pirates’ lead.2-0.
The goal left Providence with less than six minutes to score two goals ,effectively putting the game away and giving SHU the win.
At full time, Providence led with 11 shots compared to SHU’s six. Although the Pirates trailed in shots taken, the teams virtually recorded the same amount of shots on goal, with the Friars edging them out by just one (6-to-5).
In true conference play fashion, the game was physical from beginning to end, with a total of 24 fouls and four players receiving yellow cards.
With the win, SHU improves to 3-1-3, remains unbeaten at home and are now tied for first in the East Division of the Big East EAST conference.
The Pirates will return to Owen T. Carroll Field on Tuesday, when they host the Princeton Tigers for the final game of their five-game homestand.
Ace Crawford is a writer for The Setonian’s Sports section. They can be reached at grace.crawford@student.shu.edu.
