Hestnes Golden as Men's Soccer Knocks Off Seton Hall in Overtime Road Win

Saturday, October 27

South Orange, NJ

6 PM

Xavier University

5-7-5, 3-4-1BE

Seton Hall

6-6-2, 2-5-1BE

OT 1

Xavier

Seton Hall

Hestnes Golden as Men's Soccer Knocks Off Seton Hall in Overtime Road Win

10.27.18 | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Season Stats (PDF)

Xavier plays way back into postseason mix with one home match remaining at home on Wednesday

By: Brendan Bergen, Xavier Athletic Communications

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Simen Hestnes provided a golden goal in the 97th minute as Xavier men's soccer rallied for a critical road win on Saturday, beating Seton Hall 2-1 at Owen T. Carroll Field.

The Musketeers trailed 1-0 with just over seven minutes to play before a handball was called on Seton Hall in the box, setting up a penalty kick conversion by Samson Sergi in the 83rd minute. XU had several excruciatingly close looks in the minutes leading up to the equalizer, but finally broke through to force overtime.

Just over six minutes into the overtime period, Jacob Goodall chipped a high, diagonal pass to Simen Hestnes who finished a header to clinch the win.

Xavier improved to 5-7-5, 3-4-1 BIG EAST and snapped a five-match losing streak in the process.

XU also played its way back into the postseason picture, moving into a tie for sixth-place in the league standings with one regular season match to go. The top six teams in the league receive a bid into the BIG EAST Championships, which will begin next Sunday.

Seton Hall fell to 6-6-2 and 2-5-1 in league play with the setback.

NEXT UP

• Xavier returns home to close out the regular season, hosting Butler on Wednesday night at XU Soccer Complex. First touch is scheduled for 7 p.m. on the BIG EAST Digital Network. Stay tuned to GoXavier.com and follow @XavierMSOC on Twitter for the latest updates.

COACH FLEMING'S COMMENTS

"Tonight was a hard fought and well-deserved win. To go down late in the first half the way we did and to be behind with eight minutes left after the past few weeks we've had, only to storm back says a lot about our staff and our kids. Our seniors made big plays, scoring both goals and a few of our freshmen fared very well in some tough matchups late in the second half. After hitting two crossbars we finally got a few bounces and were the most healthy we've been in a month, which certainly helps. We will look to finish strong at home on Wednesday and advance our season, where we can be a very dangerous team."

HOW THEY SCORED

38' | Seton Hall 1-0 | C.J. Tibbling converted a penalty kick for the Pirates, giving SHU an early lead. The PK was assessed after a foul at the near post by the Musketeers, coming off a corner kick opportunity.
83' | Tied 1-1 | Samson Sergi hit a laser to the upper right corner of the net, finishing off a penalty kick opportunity to tie the match. The PK was assessed after a handball call in the box.
97' | Xavier 2-1 | Jacob Goodall launched a high diagonal pass from the left flank, finding Simen Hestnes at the far post where the senior headed a ball back to the left side of the net. The ball snuck in past a Seton Hall defender and the keeper for the game-winner.

NOTABLE

• Simen Hestnes' game-winner gave him a team-leading 21 (8g, 5a) points this season. He has at least one point in seven of Xavier's last 11 matches.
• Jacob Goodall was credited with the assist on the sequence, his first of the season.
• Samson Sergi's goal was his fifth of the season and gave him 13 points for the season (5g, 3a).
• Xavier outshot Seton Hall 14-9 and 5-3 in shots on goal. The Musketeers also held a 7-3 edge in corner kicks.
• Xavier improved to 2-5-2 on the road this season. Both road wins have come in BIG EAST action.
• The victory was Xavier's first win since Saturday, Oct. 6 against Villanova and first road win since Saturday, Sept. 15 at Georgetown.
• XU improves to 2-7-1 in its last 10 matches after a seven-match unbeaten streak to start the season.
• Xavier snapped its five-match losing streak with the win, its longest losing streak since 2009. Prior to this recent stretch, Xavier had never had a losing streak longer than four matches under Andy Fleming since his arrival in 2010.

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