Seton Hall Prep players show their bond as they get ready to compete against Newark Academy on Oct. 6 at Newark Academy in Livingston. SHP won 2-0.
WEST ORANGE, NJ — The Seton Hall Prep soccer team finished a successful season.
The Pirates defeated St. Peter’s Prep and lost to St. Benedict’s Prep (Newark) in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Non-Public “A” North state tournament to finish the season with a 13-5-1 record.
The No. 4 seed Pirates played one of their best matches of the year, defeating No. 5 seed St. Peter’s Prep (Jersey City) 2-0 in the quarterfinal round at Brendan P. Tevlin Memorial field in West Orange on Thursday, Nov. 6. St. Peter’s Prep also was ranked No. 2 in the state. Junior goalie Liam Collins made eight saves. Several saves were outstanding, especially in the first half, keeping the Pirates in the match.
In the second half, senior Bernardo Tinajero took a shot, St. Peter’s goalie Anthony Novello made the save and junior Maxime Tellier put home the rebound with 20:04 left. The victory was secured when Collins made a long clearance to junior Matthew Pasternak, who raced down the left side and scored with 2:02 left.
Following the game, Collins said, “It is a mental game. It’s 90 minutes of focus, 90 minutes of 100% devotion and dedication to the game. I think starting early set the tone for us and gave us a lot of momentum and power and strength to just go out there with no fear and give it everything we got. In the second half, we had a bit of difficulty adjusting, but we overcame it and we had a few chances. When Max scored on the rebound, that was it for us.”
Tellier said, “I wasn’t really thinking; I just knew I had to put the ball in the back of the net like I know how to do.”
SHP head coach Marty Berman said, “Today we got to show that we are a pretty darn good team. Days like today, we can really play and show we are as good, if not better, as the top teams in the state. I am so happy for the kids on the team to play in front of our student body (Pirate Nation). It was a great day for our program and Seton Hall Prep. I could not be happier.”
In a rematch of the Essex County Tournament semifinal won by St. Benedict’s Prep 1-0 earlier this season, the Pirates dropped a 5-1 decision to top-seeded St. Benedict’s Prep in the semifinal round on Monday, Nov. 10 at Rutgers University in Newark.
The Pirates fell behind 2-0 behind two goals by Amadou Hann, before the Pirates cut the lead to 2-1 on an own goal that was volleyed into the box by junior Matthew Pasternak with 3:03 left in the first half.
Samuel made it 3-1 with :39 left in the first half. In the second half, the SBP Gray Bees scored two goals to make the final 5-1. For the Pirates, junior goalie Liam Collins had seven saves.
Following the match, Berman said, “I thought we played a lot better today than we did in the Essex County semifinal. We actually passed the ball and played more courageously with the ball. I was really proud that we defended really well today.”
Photo Courtesy of PJ Candido/Seton Hall Prep
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