Soccer Soul: Dartmouth vs. Seton Hall

The 2019-2020 NCAA men's soccer season was predicted to be quite exciting. In seasons prior, hot schools from the West Coast such as the Stanford Cardinal and the UCLA Bruins were dominating, but in the last three seasons of this new millennium, East Coast schools were suddenly standing out. In particular the Dartmouth College Big Green team and the Seton Hall University Pirates were considered the clear talents. While Dartmouth had previously just competed within the Ivy League, its recent superior skills shoved it towards the national tournament. The Big Green (Dartmouth) would have to face the well-organized Pirates (Seton Hall) in the 2020 NCAA men's soccer tournament.

The 2019-2020 Big Green squad was led by three awesome seniors --- midfielder/captain Thomas Hewitt, defenseman Ed Shore, and winger-striker Philip Hanks. The Big Green coach boasted their team had everything necessary to bring the national trophy to the Ivy League treasure-chest. Dartmouth captain Hewitt wanted to prove something and wouldn't take failure as a reality. Hewitt hoped to marshal his outstanding team with confidence so the Big Green could just dismantle the well-oiled Seton Hall Pirates machine. There were rumors that Hewitt's ex-girlfriend was the new girlfriend of the Pirates winger-striker David Paxson.

The 2019-2020 Seton Hall Pirates men's soccer squad was led by two gifted seniors --- defenseman/captain Steven Rodriguez and winger-striker David Paxson --- and three talented juniors --- midfielder Ajay Satan, winger-striker Lawrence Zidane, and defenseman Roger Hendrickson. The Pirates coach claimed their team was so organized that it would be shocking to see Hewitt's incisive Big Green team manage to dismantle its gears. The NCAA soccer-writers claimed that this likely East Coach matchup in the NCAA tournament (between the Big Green and Pirates) would be remembered as one of the best, if not the best, in collegiate men's soccer.

As the tournament began, the Dartmouth Big Green stormed through the early rounds and easily reached the quarterfinals, dominating the North Carolina Tar Heels and the California Golden Bears by scores of 4-1 and 3-0. Dartmouth captain Hewitt boasted he just wanted to down rival Paxson's Seton Hall Pirates in the championship and everyone else was simply a distraction; Hewitt was still fanning off flames about annoying gossip regarding his ex-girlfriend now dating the Pirates captain (Paxson). Meanwhile, the Pirates struggled early but managed to thankfully squeak into the semifinals with aching wins over the Miami Hurricanes and the Clemson Tigers by scores of 4-3 and 2-1 (overtime).

The Big Green defeated the Georgetown Hoyas in the semifinals by an exciting score of 4-3, thanks to two mighty goals by captain Hewitt late in the game. Meanwhile, the Seton Hall Pirates squeaked by the Stanford Cardinal by an aching score of 3-2 (overtime) thanks to two time-spread goals by Paxson. Now, the stage was set for the championship matchup between the two East Coast heavyweight teams everyone wanted to see matched up. Apparent, the winner would be featured in a Euronext Magazine article/featurette about American collegiate soccer teams making media-spotlight alliances with European club teams like Chelsea (so more attention would be afforded to America collegiate athletes opting to go to Europe to play pro-soccer).

As the championship-game began, Big Green captain Hewitt delivered the first gong with a terrific cross-shot into the goal (2:00). However, Paxson of Seton Hall answered with a goal from an assist midpoint in the first half (22:00). The score remained 1-1 at halftime. Then, in the second half of the title game, Pirates' Paxton scored two unanswered goals (56:00, 70:00), making the score 3-1 and competing his hat-trick. Unfortunately, the Big Green's Hewitt only managed to retort with an assist to its striker and bring the score only to 3-2 (88:00) as the game ended. The Pirates squeaked through the tournament but managed to take the trophy in good fashion, thanks to Paxson's hat-trick of 3 goals. Paxson was now set to play professionally for the European pro-club team Chelsea, and his girlfriend (Hewitt's ex!) was moving with him. Hewitt stated after the monumental NCAA game, "The Pirates managed to take everything...squarely!"


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