Oct. 27, 2001
SOUTH ORANGE, NEW JERSEY - Junior forward Phil Swenda (Downingtown, PA) scored a pair of second-half goals to lead Seton Hall to a 4-2 win over Villanova in a BIG EAST men's soccer match at Owen T. Carroll Field.
Seton Hall raised its record to 9-3-2 overall and 5-1-1 in BIG EAST play. Villanova is now 5-9 overall and 3-6 in the conference.
Seton Hall was forced to overcome an early deficit as Villanova scored first. Junior goalkeeper Sean Teesdale (Blue Bell, PA) kicked a long ball out of the Villanova penalty area that sailed over the Seton Hall defense. Wildcat sophomore Colin Raws (Malvern, PA) sprinted through the defense, collected the ball and beat Pirate goalkeeper Alex McDonald on a partial breakaway just 3:12 into the game.
Later in the first half, Seton Hall knotted the score when senior midfielder Luke Serafin (Piscataway, NJ) picked up a loose ball in the penalty area, sent a short pass back to sophomore midfielder Luke Vercollone (Pembroke, MA) who connected on a drive to the lower right corner from 14 yards at the 18:20 mark.
Seton Hall broke the game open with three goals in a span of 16 minutes in the second half. Swenda scored his first goal off an assist from freshman Jason Hernandez (Englewood, NJ) at 60:05, giving the Pirates the lead for good. Ten minutes later, Serafin sent a pass through the middle of the Villanova defense to Swenda who scored the eventual game winner from 10 yards out.
At the 75:57 mark, senior forward Greg Strohmann (Wehrheim, Germany) finished off a cross from freshman Jerrod Laventure (Middle Island, NY), giving the Pirates a 4-1 lead. The goal was the 40th of Strohmann's career and also gave him 101 career points. He became the seventh player in Seton Hall history to reach the 100-point plateau for his career.
Villanova scored less than a minute later. Senior Tony Rod headed in a pass from Colin Raws on a corner kick at 76:40 to provide the final margin. It was Rod's team-leading fifth goal of the season.
Seton Hall held a 20-7 advantage in shots. Sean Teesdale (4) and Pat Walsh (2) combined for six saves in the Villanova net. Alex McDonald stopped four shots for Seton Hall.
