ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany men's soccer team hits the road once again for a Thursday night matchup at Seton Hall. The match is set to start at 7:00 p.m. with coverage on FloSports.
 
Game Info
Thursday, Aug. 29 at Seton Hall
Owen T. Carroll Field in South Orange, N.J.
7:00 p.m.
Live Stats | FloFC
 
First Time for Everything
Thursday's game will be the first ever matchup between the Pirates and the Great Danes.
 
What We've Seen So Far
The Great Danes have one win and one loss heading into South Orange. The team started on the road with a win at Niagara last Thursday, downing the Purple Eagles 3-2. On Sunday, however, the visiting LIU Sharks got the better of the Great Danes in a 1-0 victory at Casey Stadium.
 
Two different Great Danes have recorded goals thus far in Timo Jansen and Pedro Lucas. Jansen has also added an assist for a total of three points on the season. The third goal scored in last week's win at Niagara was an own goal for the purple Eagles, awarded to the UAlbany team as a whole. IN net, Daniel Shannon has played every minute while collecting 10 saves.
 
Scouting Seton Hall
Thursday's matchup will be the second of the year for the Pirates, who enter with an overall record of 1-0 after beating Florida International, 1-0, down in Miami. Junior Agustin Resch was credited with the lone goal. In that game, Seton Hall led in shots with 12 and shots on goal with nine to FIU's 10 shots and three shots on goal. Resch and Dall'Agnol accounted for four of Seton Hall's nine shots on goal. Junior goalkeeper Matias Molina made three saves in net for his first career clean sheet.
 
Heading into the season, Seton Hall was picked to finish fifth in the BIG EAST's East Division and ninth overall.
 
New Faces
In early August, head coach Trevor Gorman announced the addition of 12 new student-athletes to the team ahead of the 2024 season.
 
"We are excited to add these players to our UAlbany program," said Gorman. "Some joined us in January and experienced the spring semester adapting to our system and others will join us this fall. It's a talented group that cover all positions on the pitch and have a good variety of characteristics. We look forward to welcoming each of them into our Great Dane family and look forward to seeing their contributions this fall and beyond."
 
New additions to the team include:
Edis Alic: DEF – 6'1 – 175lbs. – Vaxjo, Sweden
Christos Efstathiou: DEF – 6'2 – 180lbs. – Limassol, Cyprus
Breckin Fett: DEF – 5'11 – 180lbs. – Anchorage, Alaska
Luca Grilla: MID – 6'0 – 155lbs. – Orlando, Fla.
Kenan Kanic: MID – 5'7 – 160lbs. – Glenmont, N.Y.
Max Kwitchoff: MID – 5'11 – 175lbs. – Tonawanda, N.Y.
Pedro Lucas: ATT – 6'0 – 170lbs. – Sao Paulo, Brazil
Brennan McDermott: MID – 6'1 – 170lbs. – Rochester, N.Y.
Nassim Nouajaa: DEF – 6'2 – 175lbs. – Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Jordan Shullenberger: MID – 6'1 – 170lbs. – Waterbury, Vt.
Kodai Tsuzuki: GK – 6'5 – 185lbs. – Takahama, Japan
Marcos Villanueva: MID – 6'1 – 170lbs. – San Juan, Puerto Rico
 
2024 Schedule
UAlbany is set to face five opponents coming off of 2023 NCAA Tournament appearances. Accounting for the last two seasons, seven of UAlbany's 2024 opponents have made it to the NCAA Tournament at least once and four of them have been seeded. The America East itself was rated the fifth strongest conference last season after having three teams make the tournament with two advancing to the Sweet Sixteen.
 
The Great Danes are set to take on back-to-back Big East opponents in Seton Hall (Aug. 29) and St. John's (Sept. 1) before hosting crosstown rival Siena on Sept. 5.
 
Remaining non-conference home matchups include Cornell (Sept. 14), Syracuse (Oct. 1), and Colgate (Oct. 22) while road matchups include Marist (Sept. 9), Lafayette (Sept. 17), and Rhode Island (Sept. 24).
 
The team's first America East contest is slated for Sept. 28 at UMass Lowell and the team's first conference home game is scheduled for Oct. 5 against Vermont. Other home conference games for the 2024 season include matchups with New Hampshire (Oct. 26) and Bryant (Nov. 5).
 
New Turf, Who Dis?
New turf for Bob Ford Field was installed over the summer.
 
The new playing surface features updated branding at midfield and in both end zones, replacing the original turf that has been in use since the stadium's construction in 2013. The turf project began in late June and was finished in time for soccer preseason practices. The project was completed by Sprinturf, LLC.
 
Unlike the original turf, yardage markers and numbers were not included with the updated surface. The department will utilize a painting system to install necessary markers before home contests to keep a "clean" look when switching between sports.
 
"Everyone is excited for the upcoming fall season, and especially looking forward to playing on a new surface in Casey Stadium," said Gorman. "The players are ready to get to work and we hope the fans will see the benefit of the new turf reflected in the quality of the play on the field."
 
Stay Connected
For more information on the UAlbany men's soccer team, follow the squad's official social media accounts on X and Instagram and UAlbany Athletics on Facebook.