Seton Hall Prep soccer team finishes 2nd in 50th Essex County Tournament

WEST ORANGE/LIVINGSTON, NJ — The Seton Hall Prep soccer team competed in the 50th Essex County Tournament this past week and finished in second place as the Pirates went 1-1 to up their record to 12-5-1 on the season.

On Wednesday, Oct. 23, at Dr. Keith Neigel Field at Millburn High School, sixth-seeded Seton Hall Prep defeated No. 7 seed Columbia 2-0 in the semifinals. After a scoreless first half, the Pirates opened the scoring just 6:58 into the second half when senior Benjamin Mills slipped a thru ball to junior Bernardo Tinajero in the box and he finished with a shot into the lower-left hand corner to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. 

Just 3:08 later, senior Daniel Dashkevich was tripped in the box and he converted the penalty kick to increase the Seton Hall lead to 2-0. 

Junior Michael Klimas had four saves for the Pirates, while Columbia senior Zac Calveric was outstanding in goal with 10 saves. This was the Pirates’ 20th semifinal appearance since 2000.

On Saturday, Oct. 26, the Pirates traveled to Allen “Jake” Jacobson Memorial Field at Livingston to take on No. 1 seed St. Benedict’s Prep (Newark), the No. 1-ranked team in the country, in the final. The Pirates lost 4-1. This was the Pirates’ 15th final appearance and 10 consecutive final appearance, 

Senior Daniel Ariza opened the scoring for Seton Hall with a goal on assists by Mills and Dashkevich just 9:14 into the match. The Gray Bees tied the score on a penalty kick by Amadou Hann with 7:39 left and Hann made it 2-1 with 3:58 left on an assist by Seba Vera. In the second half, the Gray Bees scored two more goals to make the final 4-1.

After the match, SHP head coach Marty Berman said, “I could not be more proud of the team. They fought hard from the beginning to the end of the game against a great team.”

  Seton Hall Prep soccer