Orange Soccer Begins Key BIG EAST Stretch
10/15/2004 11:24:40 AM | Men's Soccer
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Syracuse men's soccer team will play its third straight ranked opponent when it hosts No. 25 Seton Hall in BIG EAST action at the SU Soccer Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 16. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Saturday’s game with Seton Hall starts a season-ending stretch of six straight BIG EAST games for the Orange. SU will face the Pirates, Rutgers (Oct. 20) and Providence (Oct. 23) at home before traveling to Connecticut (Oct. 27) and Villanova (Oct. 30). The game with Pittsburgh, originally scheduled for Sept. 18 is also on the docket, but has not been rescheduled as of yet. Syracuse is still searching for its first BIG EAST points. The top eight teams in the league advance to the BIG EAST Tournament with the top four seeds hosting quarterfinal games. UConn currently occupies the last playoff spot with seven points. SU has a possible 18 points still remaining (3 points for a win). The Orange is trying to break a six-game losing streak. SU has been in every game this season. Dating back to last season, the last 13 games have been decided by one goal. The Orange’s 1-0 loss against 23rd-ranked Hartwick on Wednesday was the squad’s school-record sixth 1-0 loss of the season.
Junior goalkeeper Alim Karim moved into seventh place on the Orange’s career saves list after his two saves against Hartwick. Karim now has 169 career stops, passing Steve Pollnow (168, 1988-91) for seventh place. He is now just six away from taking sole possession of sixth place from Mike Westcott (174, 1977). Karim has started five games this season, including the last four. In 478 minutes, he has amassed 15 saves and a 1.51 goals against average.
The Pirates are ranked 25th in this week’s NSCAA/adidas Top 25. Seton Hall has won two straight games, both at home. The Pirates are now unbeaten in their last 15 home contests. The road has not been as kind as the squad has lost its last three BIG EAST road games at St. John’s, Pittsburgh and Boston College. Jerrod Laventure leads the team, and is second in the BIG EAST, in both goals (8) and scoring (21). Mark Pedreiras has 10 points on four goals and two assists, while Sacha Kljestan has 10 points on two goals and six assists. The Pirates are the BIG EAST’s second-highest scoring team at 1.92 goals per game. Boris Pardo and Ian Joyce have split time between the posts. Pardo has started eight games and owns a 0.88 goals against average and four shutouts. Joyce hasa 3-1-1 record in five games with a 1.34 goals against average and one shutout.
Seton Hall leads the all-time series, 12-3-3. The Pirates are making their second straight trip to Syracuse after a 0-0 tie last season at the SU Soccer Stadium. SU’s last victory in the series was a 2-1 win at home in 1999. The Pirates have not won in Syracuse since 1997 (0-1-2).
