Box Score (PDF) | Championship Central
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Seton Hall Pirates won thier fifth BIG EAST Men's Soccer Championship title, and their first in 30 years, on Saturday afternoon at Shaw Field in Washington, D.C. The second-seeded Pirates defeated the No. 1 seed Georgetown Hoyas, 2-1. With the win, Seton Hall earns the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Championship.
Seton Hall junior C.J. Tibbling scored the game-winning goal in the 63rd minute.
The NCAA Selection Show will air Monday, April 19, at noon ET on NCAA.com. The NCAA First Round will take place on Thursday, April 29, with the entire championship being held place in North Carolina. BIG EAST runner-up Georgetown and the other BIG EAST hopefuls will await an at-large berth. This will be Seton Hall's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2005.
This is Seton Hall's first BIG EAST Tournament championship since November 1991 and the fifth in program history. The Pirates also won three in a row from 1986-88.
The Pirates (9-1-3) scored early, taking a 1-0 lead in the 16th minute as senior Camil Koreichi scored his first goal of the season slipping it past on the far post of Georgetown keeper Giannis Nikopolidis. The Hoyas answered in the 34th minute as Zach Riviere scored the equalizer. GU’s Paul Rothrock tapped it over to Riviere from the middle of the box as Riviere one-timed it just inside the right post past Seton Hall’s keeper Andreas Nota.
The teams went into the half tied.
The match turned in Seton Hall's favor in the 63rd minute. A Georgetown throw-in towards the Hoyas offensive third was popped high in the sky by junior Luca Dahn, headed by Koreichi at midfield and then settled onto the pitch by freshman Mattias Almeida Sundell. Sundell dribbled forward and looked to feed Tibbling. The ball caromed off a Hoyas defender, and Tibbling capitalized, striking the ball with his right foot from about 15 yards out and beating Nikopolidis to his left near post. That gave the Pirates the 2-1 advantage.
Less than five minutes later, Seton Hall was called for a foul in the box, resulting in a penalty kick. BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year Danta Polvara went to take it, and his attempt was saved point blank by Nota, who lunged to his left to make the stop. The rebound bounced away, and Georgetown had another crack at it, but the Pirates' back line came up with a block while Nota was scrambling to get back into position.
Georgetown had the shots advantage, 17-9, and the shots on goal advantage, 4-3.
The loss was the first for Georgetown this season and gave the Hoyas an 8-1-2 record. It was the Hoyas' first loss to a BIG EAST opponent since Oct. 27, 2018. Saturday was Seton Hall's first win over Georgetown in any match since Oct. 18, 2014, the first win on Georgetown's home field since Sept. 27, 2006 and the first win over the Hoyas in a BIG EAST Tournament match since Nov. 11, 2004 in the semifinals.
Of note, Georgetown played the championship without some of its key players: Rio Hope-Gund, Derek Dodson and Jacob Montes. The three went on embark on their professional careers.
2020 BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Championship All-Tournament Team
Charles Auguste, Creighton
Callum Watson, Creighton
Beto Soto, Marquette
Alex Mirsberger, Marquette
Giannis Nikopolidis, Georgetown
Paul Rothrock, Georgetown
Sean Zawadzki, Georgetown
Maurice Williams, Seton Hall
CJ Tibbling, Seton Hall
Andreas Nota, Seton Hall
Mattias Sundell, Seton Hall
Most Outstanding Defensive Player: Maurice Williams, Seton Hall, Jr., D
Most Outstanding Offensive Player: Mattias Sundell, Seton Hall, Fr., M