Photos by Gregory Koch, Stadium Journey
Stadium Info FANFARE Score: 3.57
Owen T. Carroll Field 400 South Orange Ave South Orange, NJ 07079
Year Opened: 1907 Capacity: 1,800
Pirates Soccer in South Orange
Owen T. Carroll Field on the campus of Seton Hall University is home to the Pirates' baseball and soccer teams. The stadium opened in 1907 and has been home to Seton Hall men's soccer since 1928 and the women's soccer program since its inception. It has been renovated several times, most recently in 2019.
This review will focus on the experience at a Seton Hall soccer game. Stadium Journey also has a review of Owen T. Carroll Field for Seton Hall baseball.
Food & Beverage 1
There is no concession stand at Owen T. Carroll Field. However, the reason we give this category one star rather than zero is that there are several promotions a year offering free food to fans. When Stadium Journey visited, Seton Hall was giving away free cookies and hot chocolate to fans, although they ran out by halftime. Check the promotion schedule for more details.
Fans are also free to bring their own food and drink, with the exception of alcohol.
Atmosphere 4
The sightlines at Owen T. Carroll Field are better than you would expect at a dual-use baseball/soccer field. The seating area is located entirely along one sideline behind the benches in what would be centerfield for baseball, and runs parallel to the sideline. This makes for some odd dimensions for baseball but is ideal for soccer. The only downside is that you may struggle to see over the roofs that cover the team benches, but this will only obstruct a very small portion of the field near the sideline.
There are only a few rows of seats in the soccer seating area. The middle sections consists of chairbacks, while the others are bleachers without backs. Seating is first-come, first-served, but you should have no trouble getting a chairback no matter when you arrive.
A large scoreboard is located to the left of the seating area and shows the number of shots and saves for each team as well as the score and clock. It is also capable of displaying animated graphics, although this is rarely used. It will show a graphic saying "Corner Kick" when one happens, but this feature seems underutilized.
The seating area in the baseball stadium behind home plate is also open, but nobody will be sitting here and you will only be able to see the soccer field over the advertising boards from the top couple roads. It can be a unique place to watch a game from, but you will be very far from the field.
Neighborhood 5
The Seton Hall campus is located in South Orange, New Jersey, which may be the best college town in the Big East. The downtown area around South Orange Avenue is filled with local businesses. Bunny's Sports Bar is very popular with the locals, but you will find many options here, from Italian to Chinese to bars, pubs, and whatever else you might want.
Just keep in mind if you head too far east on South Orange Avenue towards Newark, the neighborhood gets a lot worse. You should be safe if you drive through here in your car on the way to or from campus, but you don't want to do too much walking around here.
Still, as long as you stick to the part of South Orange Avenue near campus, this is a great neighborhood.
Fans 3
Seton Hall draws a few hundred fans to a typical game, who will be a good mix of friends and family of the players, Seton Hall students, and local Pirates fans. While the seating area won't be completely full, the crowd can get fairly loud at times. At other times, however, it will be so quiet that you can hear most of the shouting going on on the field.
Soccer may not be the biggest sport at Seton Hall, but this is still a decent fan base.
Access 4
Seton Hall is located on South Orange Ave. which runs through Newark into South Orange itself. A large parking garage is located right next to the stadium, and you should have no trouble parking here. However, you will then need to walk down Seton Drive parallel to the right field line of the baseball stadium to get to the soccer bleachers. This is not a long walk by any means, but it does mean the garage isn't as close as it seems. One small point to note is that although the field is visible from the garage, signs prohibit fans from watching the game from there.
The South Orange train station is also located a short walk away from the Seton Hall campus.
Restrooms are located behind the first base dugout in the baseball portion of the stadium, so this can be a bit of a walk from the soccer bleachers. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes, but plan accordingly. Since soccer is such a fast-paced game with no real stoppages other than halftime, this walk means you can miss a significant portion of the match while you go. This does cause us to take this ranking down a notch when it would otherwise score even higher.
Return on Investment 5
Admission to Seton Hall soccer games is free, with the exception of Big East or NCAA Tournament games. Parking in the garage is also free, and while there are no concessions to buy, there is sometimes free food which improves the value even more.
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Extras 3
A marketing table is located by the entrance offering giveaways.
There are banners on the far sideline listing Seton Hall soccer postseason accomplishments.
Look for the retired number poster near the entrance to the bleachers honoring Kelly Smith, a Seton Hall women's soccer player who went on to play professionally in England and the United States as well as represent England and the Great Britain Olympic team internationally.
Final Thoughts
Owen T. Carroll Field is a unique place to watch a soccer game. While soccer on a baseball field isn't always the best viewing experience, Seton Hall finds a way to make it work here. For college soccer fans in North Jersey, a Seton Hall soccer game is a fun way to spend a fall day.
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