Seton Hall
Men's soccer came up short in heartbreaker to FGCU
Date: September 7, 2019By: Chris Russo
Seton Hall dropped an absolute stunner, 1-nil, in Fort Myers against the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles on Friday night.
FGCU’s Maxwell Edwards struck with just 15 seconds remaining in the game to secure the victory for the team ranked 18th best in the country. The Pirates did not get their first shot on goal until the game’s 71st minute but stayed with the Eagles for most of the game. FGCU outshot Seton Hall seven to three on goal and 12 to eight overall, though the Pirates actually edged the Eagles in corner kicks six to five.
Despite not getting their first shot until the 71st minute, the Pirates had their biggest scoring chance of the game when Carlton McKenzie’s shot hit the left goalpost in the 13th minute. Seton Hall also made the Eagles run, as FGCU committed 17 fouls as opposed to the Pirates’ five.
On top of that, the Eagles had three yellow cards in this game, while the Pirates finished with none. The aggressive Eagles committed those three fouls within a 23-minute span to start the second half. Jahan Rajaee got carded just 15 seconds into the second half, Ryan Medilah got his in the 63rd minute, and the eventual hero Edwards found a yellow in the 68th minute.
Andreas Nota was stellar in goal for all but one moment in the game. The Pirate goaltender made six saves on seven shots, including four saves on the Eagles’ Miguel Perez alone.
JP Marin led the Pirates in shots with three, while midfielder Andrea Borg took two. Besides those and McKenzie’s shot off the pipe, only Sean Macleod and Vittorio Argeri registered shots for Seton Hall. Eden O’Leary was one of five Pirates, excluding Nota, to play the full 90 minutes and was the lone Pirate to record multiple fouls, with two.
The Eagles had four players with multiple fouls. Edwards, the lone scorer, and Thomas Delplace each had two, while Kareem Riley and O’Vonte Mullings both committed three fouls. Seton Hall’s next game will be Sunday, September 8, at 7 p.m. against the Florida International University Panthers in Miami, Fla.
Chris Russo is an Assistant Sports Director at WSOU Sports, and can be reached at christopher.russo2@student.shu.edu.
