Seton Hall Prep soccer team begins season with two victories

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The Seton Hall Prep soccer team, ranked No. 4 in New Jersey by NJ.com in its preseason poll entering the week, opened the 2024 season with two victories last week.  

On Tuesday, Sept. 3, the Pirates hosted and defeated Life Center, 10-0, at Brendan P. Tevlin Memorial Field in West Orange. Twelve different players made the box score. Seniors Ben Mills, Daniel Ariza and Jonas Preesada scored two goals, while seniors Daniel Dashkevich and Mason Holly, junior Bernardo Tinajero and sophomore William Pearce each scored one goal. Mills, Dashkevich and senior Christopher Plenca each had two assists, while Pearce, seniors Graham Anderson and Akshay Khurana, junior Cian O’Connor and sophomore Matthew Pasternak each had one assist. Junior Michael Klimas (three saves) and seniors Sidharth Patel (one save) and Tyler O’Donnell (zero saves) recorded the clean sheet.

On Friday, Sept. 6, the Pirates hosted No. 8-ranked Garfield and came from behind to defeat the Boilermakers, 3-1. 

Garfield took a 1-0 lead off of a corner kick just 2:22 into the match. 

The Pirates tied the score at 1-1 when Tinajero scored off of a scramble in front, on assists by Ariza and fellow senior William Frank, with 2:06 left in the first half. Mills connected on a penalty kick with 21:45 left in the second half to give Seton Hall Prep a 2-1 lead. 

A little over five minutes later, Pearce scored the insurance goal on an assist by Tinajero to increase the Pirate lead to 3-1. 

Klimas, who had four saves, said about his first varsity win, “It feels great. The defense did a great job in front of me as we overcame a little adversity early in the match.”

Mills added, “As soon as we got the tying goal, I knew the momentum was going to switch in the second half, and as soon as the second half started, we started dominating and taking possession.”

Marty Berman, in his 39th year as the head coach of the Pirates, commented about the match and his team. “I was really impressed with Garfield. Their nucleus is as good as we are going to see and it was a heck of a test for us. It was a really great learning experience for our kids and I am glad we not only learned from it, but came back and played so well and won a game like this. This team has come to work hard every day and they are a great group to coach. It has become the hallmark of our program where we wind up being senior-laden each year and the next year’s team keeps the legacy going and wants to live up to the tradition of great success of the Seton Hall Prep soccer program.” 

The following are upcoming SHP games:

• Sept. 15: Black Rock FC at High Mowing School, at Main Line HS Jamboree (Kirkwood Sports Complex, in New Castle, Delaware), 11:20 a.m.
• Sept. 18: vs. Livingston, 4 p.m.
• Sept. 21: at West Essex, 10 a.m.

  Seton Hall Prep soccer