Seton Hall Pirates vs NJIT Highlanders (3-2)

In the first game of the season between the two local rivals, Seton Hall University came away with its first conference win of the year over the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Back-to-back two goal periods for each team set the Pirates up for a game winner in the third by senior alternate captain Jeremy Grabiec.

The visitors came out in the first scoring two unanswered goals in the twenty minute span. Sophomore Robert Anderson scored his first of the season off an o-zone faceoff win with an assist from sophmore center Justin Petracco early on. Not long after and on a power play, team captain Ben Bala, off an assist from freshman Toussaint, gave his team the (dreaded) two goal lead. NJIT was not sitting back during the spree, challenging Pirates’ junior goalie Joe Carbone to no avail.

The second period saw momentum swing towards the home team. Carbone’s play kept his team ahead for as long as possible, but some shaky defense and fast play by the Highlanders chipped at the lead. The team outshot Seton Hall 2:1 and the high paid off early when Ryan Nieves scored his first goal of the season off a Dalton Smith long-shot rebound. The tying goal got past Carbone midway through when Ted Lee fed James Copeland for a breakaway, one-on-one chance.

The back and forth final twenty minutes had both sides pushing hard. Despite Grabiec’s goal just under eight minutes into the period, NJIT held back the Pirates and set itself up for counter-attacks throughout. The final chance came with a power play in the last three minutes including a 6-on-4 opportunity but the clock ran out as Hall hauled in two points.

credit: cschc