Seton Hall
Pirates suffer 2-1 heartbreak to Xavier
Date: October 27, 2018By Alex Melillo
The Seton Hall Pirates fell 2-1 to Xavier on Senior Night after blowing a lead in the dying stages of the game. The Hall now needs a crucial away victory in the regular season finale at Villanova to give themselves a shot at qualification for the Big East tournament.
Everything was going according to plan for the Seton Hall Pirates. Late in the first half, the home side was awarded a penalty kick which freshman CJ Tibbling confidently stroked home for the 1-0 lead at half. The Pirates played their game plan confidently and with precision the entire first half, only allowing two shots.
The second half kicked off and seemed to be an encore of the previous 45 minutes. The Pirates seemed like the deadlier team, and would considered themselves unlucky on a few occasions to not put themselves up 2-0 and virtually lock in the vital three points.
However, as the half went on and minutes ticked down, momentum crept away from the Pirates as they soon found themselves under constant siege from the Musketeers’ offense. After two corners ended in spectacular saves from goalkeeper Andres Nota, the third time proved the charm for the visitors.
Awarded a penalty in the box, Samson Sergei stepped up for the Musketeers and blasted it to the right of a diving Nota for the equalizer. With the pendulum of momentum squarely in their favor, Seton Hall found themselves with a glorious opportunity to come back and rescue the win. In the dying seconds, Tibbling bodied off a defender and sent a curling effort mere inches to the right of the far post.
In overtime, a long cross into the box by Xavier caused a mad scramble in front of Nota. Amid the chaos, midfielder Simen Hestes latched his right boot onto the ball sending the Musketeers to a massive celebration in the corner as they came away with the comeback road victory.
The critical three points sees Xavier all but assured of a post season berth, leaving the Pirates clinging to life on the last week of the season. Not only would Seton Hall have to win on Wednesday, at Villanova, but they would need both Xavier and DePaul to lose their games. Any sort of point from Xavier eliminates Seton Hall from post season contention.
The Hall now needs a crucial away victory in the regular season finale at Villanova to give themselves a shot at qualification for the Big East tournament. Seton Hall kicks off against Villanova Wednesday, October 31st at 3 pm.
Alex Melillo can be reached at alexjmel@hotmail.com
