Seton Hall Men’s Soccer Earns Hard-Fought Draw Against #1 Maryland

September 20, 2011

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – The Seton Hall men’s soccer team drew a scoreless tie with top-ranked Maryland in front of a sold out crowd at Owen T. Carroll Field on Tuesday night. The Pirates are now 3-2-2 as they head into BIG EAST play this weekend at DePaul.

This marks the fourth straight season the Hall has tied a ranked opponent and the Pirates have drawn with a top-five foe in back-to-back years after a 2-2 draw at #4 Wake Forest in 2010.

The Terps’ (7-0-1) leading scorer, Casey Townsend, had the first two scoring chances of the game for either team. In the 24^th minute, a pass found his feet from about five yards out on the right side, but the angle proved to be too tight as his shot went wide. Townsend then showed off his strength, fighting his way by a pair of defenders to create space from just inside the goal box. This time, the strike was headed in but not before clanging off the crossbar to keep the game, 0-0.

SHU’s best chance in regulation came in the 84^th minute after Christian Battistesa (South Bound Brook, N.J.) came up with a 50/50 ball in the Maryland end and dribbled to the 25-yard mark. With a defender on his heels, the sophomore’s shot sailed to the right and the clubs headed to overtime.

The Pirates backfield flexed their muscle in the extra sessions, holding the Terrapins to minimal scoring chances despite Maryland getting off several corner kicks. Seton Hall had its best chance of the evening in the 106^th minute when a Giovanni Zammiello (Randolph, N.J.) shot from over 30 yards away looked like it was going to find the upper-left corner of the net. With 1,800 fans on their feet, the attempt sailed to the left of the goal to end the threat.

The Terps outshot SHU, 23-6, but only four of those shots were on target. Sophomore Max Garcia (Jersey City, N.J.) held the Pirates only shot on goal for the night.

Freshman Mario DeClerico (Maple Shade, N.J.) made his first career start in net, and made four saves after going the full 110 minutes.

The Pirates contest against the Blue Demons is scheduled for Saturday, September 24, at 2:00 p.m.