Pirates Bruised and Beaten 1-0 in Big East Opener

Date: September 16, 2017

By: James Justice

The Pirates finished Saturday afternoon beaten by physical play, the unseasonable heat and ultimately the Red Storm as St. John's took down Seton Hall 1-0 at Owen T. Carroll Field in the first game of Big East play for both teams.

The game started out quiet considering the fireworks that would ensue in the end. Both teams traded possessions, with neither creating an uncomfortable save until Marco Neves forced two of them out of St. John's goalkeeper Andrew Withers in the 25th and 31st minute.

St. John's would break the game open in the 37th minute when Jordan Shankle put his foot through and connected with the ball in perfect harmony, catapulting the shot past Seton Hall goalkeeper Steven Catudal who was about eight yards off his line.

The second half gave the appearance of a downhill chase for Seton Hall, as the Pirates attacked the scoreboard end of Owen T. Carroll Field with all their might, creating multiple chances that resulted in two more shots on goal and seven more shots in total in the second half.

Pirate fans were on their feet on multiple occasions as Andres Arcila lined up free kicks down the stretch, putting in good deliveries that brought about oohs-and-aahs from the crowd but not the goal the team desperately needed.

By the middle of the second half, fans were beginning to voice their displeasure with the referee, who all told would call 19 fouls on Seton Hall to 28 on St. John's. Despite this discrepancy toward St. John's, the referee did not issue a red card to St. John's, as opposed to two red cards to Seton Hall.

With the sun blaring down on a hot September afternoon, tempers would boil over with a crunching tackle on the near sideline, right in front of the St. John's bench, by Red Storm midfielder Mauricio Rivas. The tackle would send both benches racing after each other and ultimately lead to the ejection of both Seton Hall midfielder Spencer Burkhardt and defender Nick Najera.

Down to nine men, Seton Hall still created chances, with their last opportunity coming in the final two minutes of play. It was then that Jonathan Jimenez, alone up top against three St. John's defenders, would somehow manage to turn away from all three and expertly draw a foul in the corner to set up an Andres Arcila free kick.

Arcila would tee up the delivery with both benches up off their feet, but after a couple times trying, the danger was cleared away.

Seton Hall head coach Gerson Echeverry expressed his frustration with the unpunished persistent fouling of St. John's after the match, understanding his players frustration while also acknowledging how they needed to maintain calmer heads.

"It's frustrating because when you look at 28-to-19 [fouls], and we are the ones with two cards, of course the kids are frustrated," Echeverry said. "So, I can't blame them for being frustrated, but at the same time, they have to learn to deal with it."

The Pirates final non-conference test is on the road, Tuesday, against Lehigh. Now back under .500 and back on a losing streak, Seton Hall will be looking to turn the clock back to last week, when the Pirates had their first three game winning streak since 2011.

"It's important. Obviously there have been a lot of games under our legs consecutively, some guys have to step up and put in some more minutes so other guys rest, so we'll see," Echeverry said. "We got to start a winning streak again, and that's what it's about."

 

James Justice can be reached at james.justice@student.shu.edu.

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