Delaware Men's Soccer Heads To Seton Hall For Thursday Night Action
August 31, 2011
Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell
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SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. -- This Thursday, the University of Delaware men’s soccer team will head to a place it has not been since 1940: South Orange, N.J.
The Hens will take on the Pirates of Seton Hall at 7 p.m. at Owen T. Carroll Field where Delaware last played 71 years ago, picking up a 4-0 victory.
Media:
Seton Hall will be offering two ways to follow Thursday night’s action. There will be a free live stats feed as well as a live video stream. The video stream requires a subscription with a minimum of one month required.
There is a direct link to the live stats feed and video web stream at BlueHens.com. Navigate the browser to the men's soccer page and select 2011 Schedule and Results from the Related Links menu on the right side of the page.
The Series:
The Hens and the Pirates are meeting for the first time since 1941, a span of 70 years, when Delaware nabbed a 2-0 win at home.
Delaware is 3-1-0 all-time against Seton Hall and has not surrendered a goal in the last two meetings. The Hens have outscored the Pirates 11-4 over the course of those four games, averaging nearly three goals a game (2.75).
Hennessy Heads Back to the Hall:
Delaware’s head coach Ian Hennessy (above at right) has never faced Seton Hall but knows plenty about the program and its history and is deeply entrenched in the Pirates’ history.
The coach, now in his sixth season at the helm, graduated from Seton Hall in 1990. For his final three years as a Pirate, Hennessy played for current head coach Manfred Schellscheidt from 1988-1990.
Over his four years in South Orange, Hennessy helped lead the Pirates to three consecutive Big East Finals, including a championship in 1988. That season, Seton Hall reached the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.
Hennessy, who was inducted into the Seton Hall Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006, is still among the elite in the record books, ranking second all-time in career points (134) and goals (52). Known for his offensive prowess, particularly in the post-season, Hennessy scored at least once in every Big East tournament game he played.
“The Big East is a conference I know well and the school is near and dear to my heart," said Hennessy. "I was an All-American and two-time Big East MVP at Seton Hall and for me, Manfred is one of the giants in the game and has been one of the greatest influences in my coaching career, particularly with the younger kids. It is also a school that nurtured my love for science and I have very fond memories of hours spent in the lab there."
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Keeping the streak alive:
Blue Hen goalkeeper Brandon Paul (at left) kept his regular season shutout streak going last week with a 3-0 win over the University of Massachusetts, extending the streak to four full games.
Paul has not allowed a regular season goal since the 77th minute against James Madison on Oct. 10, 2010. Paul was challenged by just one Massachusetts shot the entire game and turned it aside to preserve the shutout. He has now played 419 straight regular season minutes without allowing a goal.
Among the best of the best:
Senior forward Evans Frimpong was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Top 100, sliding into the No. 91 spot of the pre-season poll.
The list is comprised of sophomores, juniors and seniors from NCAA Division I institutions and will be updated weekly beginning in September.
Frimpong finished 2010 with seven points on three goals, one of which was a penalty kick, and an assist. He is the top returning scorer in 2011 and will looked upon to lead the Hen offense once again.
The Accra, Ghana native was joined on the list by several other CAA players; Hofstra’s Shaun Foster (No. 42), VCU’s Romena Bowie (No. 71), Olakunle Banjo of Towson (No. 80), Northeastern’s Mike Kennedy (No. 84) and Old Dominion’s Gideon Asante (No. 100).
2011 Team Captains:
Hennessy has named a trio of Europeans as the team captains for 2011
The trio, all of whom play in the backfield, includes two Irishmen in senior Darren O’Connor and sophomore John Dineen. The third captain is Tobias Müller, who hails from Steinfurt, Germany
Scouting the Hens:
So far in the young 2011 season, Frimpong, a second-team All-Colonial Athletic Association in 2010, has led the Hens’ offense. Frimpong scored back-to-back goals in the 3-0 season opening win over Massachusetts.
Sophomore Chas Wilson has Delaware’s other goal on the year, giving the Hens their third of the game against UMass.
Three different Delaware players have chipped in during the victory in the assist column. Sophomore Roberto Gimenez assisted Frimpong’s first goal, which came just nine minutes into the opener. Vincent Mediate had the second helper in the 50th minute while senior midfielder Kyle Ellis dished a pass to Wilson in the 77th minute.
Delaware’s defense held Massachusetts to just seven shots during the 90 minutes of action. Only one Minuteman had more than two shots, Bryant Craft. Just one of those shots was on goal, and goalkeeper Brandon Paul turned it aside to preserve his fourth-straight regular season victory.
“Coming off the UMass win, we are as prepared as we can be," said Hennessy. "We still have a few areas that we certainly need to improve on. We have been training on turf this week to prepare and the lads are excited to get back to playing. I thought the UMass win was convincing for the most part and the spirit in the group is strong, so I hope now that we can carry this positive energy when we play tomorrow night.”
Scouting the Pirates:
The Pirates were selected to finish seventh in the Big East’s Blue Division, edging out only Pittsburgh. Seton Hall fell in 1-0 to Rider in its home opener last Friday.
The shutout was not from a lack of trying. Seton Hall took 15 shots during the game, putting three on goal. Giovanni Zammiello led the team in attempts with three. Andrew LoManto, Max Garcia and Adriano Gabriele each took two attempts. Gabriele is the only player with multiple shots on goal, putting both his attempts on goal.
Andrew Reichwaldt got the start in goal Friday night. He made one save against three shots on goal. The Seton Hall defense was credited with the team’s second save. Seton Hall’s backline allowed Rider to manage just seven shots.
The Pirates have an overwhelming advantage in corner kicks so far this season, taking 12 while Rider was allowed just two. Seton Hall split its attempts with six in each half.
“Of course, the focus of the game is about the 2011 team and this is an important game for us," noted Hennessy. "SHU is a young but very talented team that will not offer up the game to us. This is a game that we need to earn."
