Seton Hall Walks Away With Draw Against #21 Penn, 0-0

Published: Saturday, September 6, 2025

by Anthony Collins

The Seton Hall Pirates (1-1-2) and the #21 Penn Quakers (1-0-1) went back and forth in a Friday night contest in South Orange, but ultimately ended in a stalemate with a 0-0 draw. Although the game was a physical and fast-paced, neither team was able to finish and put a dent in the scoreboard. 

From the opening kickoff, Penn applied pressure with their offensive attack but the Pirates defense stood strong, led by goalkeeper Matias Molina who was nothing short of spectacular between the posts from start to finish. 

Molina made incredible saves that kept them in the game, including his diving save on Oliver Pratt’s top-left strike in the 30th minute and another diving save on Jack Wagoner’s shot in the 59th minute. 

The backs also contributed to keeping the game scoreless for the Pirates with Liam Guske and Agustin Resch, who not only showed physicality on the defensive end, but set up big plays on the counterattack.  Guske manufactured a scoring opportunity when he sent a long ball across the field that led to a breakaway for Joe Waight.

Despite coming up empty on these possessions, they showed flashes towards the end of both halves that made many believe they would score at some point. Another area of this Pirates team that performed at a high level were the midfielders.

This was noticeable with players like Nico Rubio who played a huge part in keeping the Penn defense honest throughout the game, with one of the better chances of scoring was in the 6th minute but also again in the 21st minute where he narrowly missed wide. 

A big part of these calculated attacks from the Pirates stemmed from keeping certain players rested and ready to run across the field at the right time with frequent substitutions throughout the game as players were rotated in and out both halves. They did this with Uri Koffi who made a key defensive play and followed it up by nearly scoring in the 84th minute. 

Then again, Penn also made a lot of substitutions including a five-man swap in the 38th minute. Though the Pirates couldn’t finish on their scoring opportunities that came up scattered throughout the game, they got one grade-A chance right before the end of the match.

In the 88th minute, Agustin Resch found himself with the opportunity to give Seton Hall the lead with a penalty kick, but David Howard made the save of the game, diving right as he perfectly timed it off the foot of Resch. 

Despite the missed chances that were disappointing, this team ultimately proved that they could go toe-to-toe with ranked opponents early in the season. Although it was a scoreless draw, it does not depict the physicality on the defensive end from both teams that made the game more intense and exciting, something which kept everyone on their feet. 

Moving forward, the Pirates will continue their long home stand when they host Sacred Heart on Thursday, September 11th, with kickoff set for 6:56 p.m.

Anthony Collins can be reached at anthony.collins@student.shu.edu.

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