WEST ORANGE, NJ — The Seton Hall Prep soccer team, winners of three games in a row and 15-5-1 on the season, won two New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Non-Public “A” North matches last week.
On Tuesday, Nov. 5, the fourth-seeded Pirates defeated No. 13 seed Paramus Catholic, 10-0, at Brendan P. Tevlin Memorial Field in West Orange in the first round. Senior Jack Driscoll led the scoring with two goals, while seniors Daniel Ariza, Matthew Maceri, Benjamin Mills, Franco Callejas and Christopher Plenca each scored one goal. Junior Clayton Thomas scored one goal and sophomores William Pearce and Matthew Pasternak each scored a goal.
Mills had three assists, and Pearce and senior Daniel Dashkevich each had two assists. The following players each had one assist: seniors Jonas Preesada, Ariza and Pasternak, and juniors Sebastian Cempron and Cian O’Connor.
On Friday, Nov. 8, the Pirates came from behind to defeat No. 5 seed Dwight-Englewood, 2-1, in the quarterfinal round. The Bulldogs scored off of a scramble in front to give Dwight-Englewood a 1-0 lead with 12:50 left in the second half. Seton Hall tied the score at 1-1 when Dashkevich connected on a penalty kick with 3:37 left. Mills sent a corner kick towards the goal and Maceri ran on to head it home with :32 left to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead.
Following the match, Dashkevich said, “I did not feel any pressure when I took the penalty kick,” Maceri added, “Our team motto is to play until the end and that is what we did today. I was lucky to get my head on Ben’s corner kick “
The Pirates were scheduled to face top-seeded St. Benedict’s Prep on Tuesday, Nov. 12, in the semifinals, after press time. The Pirates lost to St. Benedict’s Prep, 4-1, in the 50th Essex County Tournament championship game on Oct. 26.
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