Seton Hall Prep soccer team kicks up 5-0-1 start to season

WEST ORANGE, NJ — The Seton Hall Prep soccer team went 3-0-1 this past week to raise its record to 5-0-1 on the season. 

On Monday, Sept. 9, the Pirates played Westfield to a 1-1, double-overtime tie at Brendan P. Tevlin Memorial Field in West Orange. Westfield open the scoring with 30:34 left in the second half. The Pirates tied the score with :03 left when Nicolas Sprague scored off a pass from Aidan Dunphy. Goalie Tomas Hut had nine saves. 

On Wednesday, Sept. 11, the Pirates traveled to Travis Field at West Essex HS in North Caldwell and defeated the Knights, 6-0. In the first half, Seton Hall took a 4-0 lead on goals by Sal Vito, Shane Farrell, Ben Chambeau and Ryan Spezzacatena, while Aidan Dunphy, Gio Amato, Nick Palangio, David Schuster and Chambeau had assists.

In the second half, Michael Batangany scored off an assist by Edward Kelly, while Schuster scored the other goal on assists by Kelly and Holden Tabije. Hut had one save while Aidan Batista had two saves to record the shutout.

On Friday, Sept. 13, the Pirates traveled to Montclair to take on Montclair Kimberley Academy and won, 2-0. Shane Farrell scored an unassisted goal in the first half, while Lucas Ross scored off a pass by Dunphy in the second half. Hut had five saves and Batista had three saves to record the team’s fourth clean sheet of the season.

On Sunday, Sept. 15, the Pirates traveled to Downingtown, Pa. to the United States Training Center to participate in the Mainline HS Jamboree. The Pirates defeated Landon School from Bethesda, Md., 2-1. In the first half, Ross scored off an assist by Farrell with 23:00 left. Farrell scored just 7:00 into the second half off of an assist by Alex Treska. Hut had three saves and Bastista had one save in the victory.

Following the game, Farrell, who played academy for the last two years but decided to play for the Prep during his senior season said, “The seniors have a real good chemistry and we need to keep playing simple, good and smart soccer the rest of the season.”

When asked to comment about the successful start to the season, SHP head coach Marty Berman said, “We have had a real good start to the season and we have won good close games. We are getting better and healthier as a team every day and know we have a long road ahead.”

The Pirates are ranked in the following polls:

TopDrawerSoccer.com: Fab 50: No. 7; East Region: No. 4; New Jersey: No. 3.

USA Today/United Soccer Coaches: Region III: No. 5; Super 25: Also Receiving Votes

Star Ledger – NJ.Com: No. 2 in New Jersey, No. 2 in Non-Public Schools, No. 1 in Super Essex Conference.