Seton Hall Loses Lead in Final Minutes En Route to 2-2 Draw Against Rutgers

Published: Monday, August 25, 2025

by Liam Page

Seton Hall (1-0-1) drew Rutgers (1-0-1) by a score of 2-2 on Sunday night at Owen T. Carroll Field. In a matchup that many may have thought would have been defensive-minded, the offenses took charge of the tempo and wore down the other side.

Only 8 minutes in, Seton Hall had their first opportunity off a corner kick. They got two chances from the right side but shots from both Til Kaushke and Hugo Gerbore were shut down by Rutgers Goalie Ciaran Dalton. This would define most of the night for Seton Hall inside the 18 yard box.

As Rutgers began to string together their first offensive play, the shape of the game began to take form. It was going to be physical, and the referee was going to let them play that style of soccer. 

Since the Rutgers players were unable to make set pieces, they would manufacture their own. Rutgers players demonstrated the ability to throw the ball in from the sideline all the way into the 6 yard box. 

The first time Rutgers heaved one in towards the goal, Pirates goalkeeper Matias Molina made a play on the ball, but the second time Molina tried to be aggressive on the first touch, he was unable to control or clear it and with Molina off his line, a lucky bounce found its way into the waiting legs of Joschi Schelb, giving Rutgers a 1-0 lead in the 18th minute. 

Seton Hall would get back to how they started the game by being hyper-aggressive on offense, but they could not break through even with two more corner kicks. Seton Hall would lose their offensive tempo as Rutgers began to push back into the Pirates half. 

A challenge from Mikkel Lejbowicz led to him manufacturing a turnover and saw him streaking towards the Rutgers goal one on three. One defender drifted off to cover another Pirate running down the middle of the field and as Lejbowicz made it to the top of the 18 yard box he cut inside his defender and scored from the top of the box to the right side of the goal, tying the game at one a piece in the 32nd minute. 

Shortly after, Seton Hall’s Konstantin Donalies received a yellow card on an aerial challenge, but neither team was able to generate any meaningful tempo before the half.

Coming out of the half, Seton Hall began applying heavy pressure on the Rutgers backline, almost scoring on another breakaway which saw four separate Scarlet Knight defenders help their goalie prevent an almost certain Pirate goal. 

Seton Hall continued to apply pressure and this led to Rutgers defender Montgomory Braxton drawing a yellow card after pulling down Joseph Waight to halt a breakaway. With momentum on the Pirates side, they got another great chance when Agustin Resch drove a header into the back of the Scarlet Knights goal in the 82nd minute off a corner kick, giving the Hall a 2-1 lead.

Rutgers would substitute in order to get fresh legs onto the pitch and not too long after, Jude Essuman rocketed a shot past Molina who did not have a play on the ball, tying the game at two. Both teams would become increasingly aggressive in the last 8 minutes of the game, but neither defenses gave in, which resulted in the contest finishing in a 2-2 draw.

Following the draw against Rutgers, the Pirates now hit the road as they take a quick trip to Saint Louis for their next match, before returning back to South Orange for a five-game homestand.  The Pirates and the Billikens are scheduled to kick off at 8 p.m. on Saturday.

Liam Page can be reached at liam.page@student.shu.edu.

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