On Aug. 24, the Seton Hall women’s soccer team hosted in-state rivals Rider University (RU) at Owen T. Carroll Field, followed by the men’s team hosting fellow in-state rival, Rutgers University.
WSOC vs. Rider University
With a 4-12-3 record, it’s fair to say that last season was a struggle for the women’s soccer team. They finished last in the Big East standings, while managing just one road win and ending the season on a seven-game losing streak.
The team is off to its best start in years. After defeating Iona 3-1 earlier this week, the program has started the season 2-0 for the first time since 2021.
This is largely thanks to the talent the program was able to recruit in the offseason—according to TopDrawerSoccer, the leading media authority for youth, high school, and college soccer, the Pirates' signing class was ranked 29th in the nation. Of the 13 newcomers the program recruited to the team, ten of them are freshmen, while the rest are transfers.
Their offseason movement has already paid dividends for them, with University of Miami transfer Gianna Angelillo and freshman forward Paige Shaughnessey accounting for four of the team’s six total goals through their first two games of the season. Both also received recognition from the conference for their respective performances, with Angelillo named to the first Big East Weekly Honor Roll of the season and Shaughnessey named the season’s first Big East Freshman of the Week.
Game Coverage
With a shot attempt differential of 15-to-4 in favor of SHU—seven of which were on goal—the final score of this game fails to tell the full story. After 90 minutes, SHU finished in a 2-2 draw with RU in a game in which the Pirates were largely in control.
SHU put pressure on RU’s backline early on in the game, as freshman midfielder Danni Hennessy hit both the crossbar and right post with two efforts from distance within the first ten minutes of the game. Later in the first half, a potential handball in the box that would have awarded SHU with a penalty kick was checked by the referee via video review—a preview of things to come later in the game.
At halftime, SHU led 8-to-3 in shot attempts, with three of them being on goal.
Not long after the start of the second half, Angelillo scored with an upper-90, far-post shot from the edge of the box to give SHU a long-overdue 1-0 lead. Assisted by sophomore defender Olivia Beauvois and freshman forward Jordana Bello, Angelillo’s goal marked her third of the season after she scored a brace against Monmouth University in the team’s season opener on Aug 14.
With just under 30 minutes left in the game, Angelillo would score again to give SHU a comfortable 2-0 lead. Sophomore midfielder Nina Davis was able to find Angelillo with a cross in the box for a low-driven volley away from the Broncs’ goalkeeper in the 65th minute. With her fourth goal of the season, Angelillo has already managed to score her second brace of the season in just her third game as a Pirate.
However, RU quickly responded with a goal of their own not long after, as junior forward Taylor Mays scored the first goal of her career to make it 2-1. In the 70th minute of the game, the Pirates missed a chance to regain their two-goal lead and put the game out of reach after Shaughnessy couldn’t connect with a cross from fellow freshman Ava Lozada.
That missed opportunity would come back to haunt SHU. With less than two minutes remaining, RU made a late push and managed to earn a corner kick that would prove consequential. After taking the corner quickly, the Broncs were awarded a penalty kick for a handball in the box following another referee review—this time awarding RU with the penalty kick.
RU junior defender Courtney Carter sent SHU’s sophomore goalkeeper Avery Strohecker the wrong way to convert the penalty and tie the game at 2-2 with just one minute remaining. Strohecker would go on to make a clutch save as time expired to prevent RU from stealing the win in the final seconds of the game, leading to the final score of 2-2.
Although they weren’t able to win this game, the women’s soccer team remained undefeated through their first three games of the season. They will return to Owen T. Carroll Field on Aug. 28, to face Lafayette College for the final game of their four-game homestand to open the season.
MSOC v. Rutgers
After opening the season with a 2-0 home victory over Lafayette College, the SHU men’s soccer team returned to Owen T. Carroll Field to face Rutgers in the second game of the night. While the Pirates hope to recreate last season’s incredible start, when they went undefeated through their first six games, the Scarlet Knights begin their season 2-0 for the first time since 2019.
According to SHU’s athletics website, this game marked the 59th meeting between the two programs in what has been a longstanding in-state rivalry that spans several decades and several sports—the most noteworthy among them being basketball. Although Rutgers leads 36-17-5 in the all-time series, SHU defeated them 3-1 in their most recent matchup around this time last season.
Ahead of their season opener, the men’s soccer team was recognized for what they achieved last season, not just on the pitch, but also in the classroom. While recording the program’s first double-digit win season since 2020, and securing a spot in the Big East Tournament, last year’s team also recorded a program-record GPA of 3.68—the second highest in all of Division I men’s soccer, trailing only Stanford University by a margin of just 0.06 (3.74).
As a result of their high academic performance, the team received the College Team Academic Award from United States Coaches, the largest soccer coaches’ organization in the world. With the second-highest team GPA in the nation, the team naturally had the highest GPA in Big East men’s soccer and was also honored with the Team Academic Excellence Award by the conference.
The team earned individual recognition from the Big East as well, with senior defender and SHU Male Scholar Athlete of the Year Sam Bjork being one of five SHU students to receive an individual Sport Excellence Awards. Fellow senior defender Augustin Resch was named the Preseason Big East Defense Player of the Year and was a unanimous selection to the Preseason All-Big East Team in the Big East Conference Preseason Coaches’ Poll. In his first season as a starter last year, the Argentina native was named Big East Defensive Player of the Week in the opening week of the season, and later earned All-Big East Second Team honors at the end of the season.
Game Coverage
Like their female counterparts in the game prior, the SHU men’s soccer team drew with their opponents 2-2 while also outshooting them, and nearly by the same amount. After 90 minutes, they led 15-to-5 in shot attempts, six of which were shots on goal as compared to Rutgers’ three.
Early in the game, SHU recorded its first shot attempt on goal with a header in the box from junior midfielder Hugo Gerbore, which was stopped with an acrobatic save by RU senior goalkeeper Ciaran Dalton. Not long after, Rutgers also recorded their first shot attempt on goal, which resulted in a goal. After SHU senior goalkeeper Matias Molina punched away a long throw-in, the ball fell to junior midfielder Joschi Schelb, who scored with a first-time volley from close range in the 18th minute to give the Scarlet Knights an early 1-0 lead.
Nearly 15 minutes later, the Pirates managed a response via an incredible unassisted solo goal by sophomore forward Mikkel Lejbowicz. After winning a 50/50 challenge in his own half following a RU set piece, Lejbowicz dribbled the ball coast-to-coast before drilling a shot in the bottom right corner of Rutgers’ goal to tie the game at 1-1. Following the game, Lejbowicz was named to the first Big East Honor Weekly Roll of the season.
At halftime, SHU was able to create more quality chances than their opponents in the first half, leading 8-to-2 in shot attempts and 4-to-1 in shot attempts on goal.
After an eventful first half, SHU played a more patient, controlled game in the second. They often played from out the back, with Resch and fellow defender Konstantin Donalies sharing the ball and distributing it through the midfield. Not long after Rutgers managed to stop a three-shot sequence by the Pirates, with one of them being body-blocked on the goal-line, SHU would take the lead via a corner kick where Gerbore connected with Resch for a header goal in the 71st minute—with the goal, the Big East Preseason Defender of the Year has recorded a goal in every season at SHU.
Now down 2-1, Rutgers made some changes in hopes of providing some energy off the bench with just 10 minutes left in the game. One of the players RU put in the game was freshman forward Jude Essuman, who scored the game-tying goal in the 82nd minute after being in the game for just five minutes of playing time. No opportunity for either team manifested following Essuman’s goal, leading to the final score of 2-2.
Despite SHU controlling the pace of the game in the second half, the Scarlet Knights were able to stay in this game thanks to the depth of their roster. While the Pirates used just three players off the bench, Rutgers used 11—enough for a whole starting lineup in itself. With the draw, both teams improve to 1-0-1 on the season, leaving the rivalry to be settled next season when the teams meet again.
After travelling to Missouri on Aug. 30, to face Saint Louis University in their first away game of the season, the Pirates will return to Owen T. Carroll Field on Sept. 5, as they host the University of Pennsylvania Quakers.
Zachary Mawby is the head editor for The Setonian’s Sports section. He can be reached at zachary.mawby@student.shu.edu.
