It took until the 10th match of the season for the Stony Brook men’s soccer team to be held off the scoreboard, and even that was not enough to beat it.
A midweek nonconference bout on Tuesday brought the Seawolves (4-3-3, 3-0-2 CAA) to South Orange, N.J. on Tuesday to take on the Seton Hall Pirates (5-3-2, 1-2-0 Big East). Neither team was able to break the ice and the match ended in a scoreless draw.
Stony Brook had a flurry of opportunities in the first half, tallying eight total shots and landing three on goal. The first shot on goal came in the fourth minute off a corner kick served by forward Moses Bakabulindi that found the head of midfielder Amit Magoz. Magoz redirected the ball low and towards the net, but it was stopped by Seton Hall goalkeeper Mats Roorda. Forwards Olsen Aluc and Johan Velez were also denied by Roorda during the opening half.
The closest the Pirates came to scoring came in the 23rd minute. Seton Hall midfielder Hugo Gerbore was just feet away from the Seawolves’ goal with enough room to rip a shot towards the bottom left, but goalkeeper Edmond Kaiser dove to knock the ball away. Defender Jon Jelercic got the rebound and cleared it from Stony Brook’s third to keep the match scoreless. Gerbore recorded another shot on goal in the second half, but it was smothered by Kaiser.
The Seawolves saw their best opportunity to score in the 82nd minute when midfielder Alex Fléury played a precise pass to forward Jonas Bičkus, who was inside the Pirates’ penalty box. In a one-on-one with Roorda, Bičkus took a quick shot that got past him but went just wide of the right woodwork.
In an even-keeled contest, Stony Brook narrowly outshot the Pirates 10-9, and both teams landed three shots on goal. Bičkus led the team with three total shots, followed by Fléury with two. Aluc, Velez, Magoz, forward Caleb Danquah and midfielder Trevor Harrison each contributed one shot.
Seton Hall forward Tim Ströbeck and midfielder James Boote co-led their team alongside Gerbore with two shots apiece. Midfielder Tomas Nuñez had the Pirates’ only other shot on goal, which Kaiser stopped in the 58th minute.
Kaiser saved three shots en route to his second clean sheet of the year, while Roorda did the same to earn his fourth.
The Seawolves will return to conference play this Saturday when they take on the Charleston Cougars in South Carolina. The Cougars are just 2-3-5 this year and 1-1-2 in conference play. They have lost three matches in a row after losing 1-0 to Queens University on Tuesday. Opening kickoff between the two is set for 1 p.m.
