The Georgetown men’s soccer team battled past No. 11 Rutgers on Saturday in front of a rowdy Homecoming crowd. The 1-0 victory boosted the Hoyas’ record to 3-4 overall and 2-1 in Big East competition.
Georgetown’s lone goal came in the 24th minute, when first-year forward Kemmons Feldman challenged a mishandled clearing pass by Rutgers senior goalkeeper Ricky Zinter and deflected it into the Scarlet Knights’ goal.
The Hoyas fought off a relentless Rutgers attack to maintain possession for the majority of the game, but were unable to capitalize on their shot opportunities, including a well-angled shot by first-year midfielder Michael Banner which caught the corner of the goal. The play was called off-sides.
“We’re a possession-style team to begin with, and the key [to this win] was hanging on to the ball,” said junior goalkeeper Tim Hogan. “But sometimes, no matter how well you play, you just don’t get rewarded.”
Officials handed out a total of 39 fouls during the contest, as well as three yellow cards to Georgetown and two to Rutgers. Head Coach Keith Tabatznik was not surprised by the highly aggressive play displayed by both teams.
“Big East games are always tough physically,” he said. “This was a tough game to officiate, because you either have to call everything or almost nothing.”
Tabatznik pointed to the Hoyas’ defensive effort, led by first-year Big East Defensive Player of the Week Jeff Curtin, as the game’s biggest positive.
Hogan withstood 15 shots from Rutgers and made five saves to help give Georgetown its second consecutive home field shutout. Georgetown’s play in the final minutes showed a marked improvement from the 3-2 overtime loss to Syracuse on Sept. 7, where the defense allowed the Orangemen three unanswered goals in the last eight minutes of the game.
“We’ve learned from [Syracuse],” said Tabatznik. “Here we were up by one goal and gave Rutgers maybe one second-rate chance in the last five minutes. It’s maturity. Our scoring chances were also much better today ? There’s no disappointment in this game.”
Feldman’s performance against the Scarlet Knights earned him Big East Co-Rookie of the Week honors. He leads Georgetown in points for the season and is tied for the lead with first-year forward Benjamin Jefferson-Dow in goals scored.
“Big East play is faster and more physical [than high school],” Feldman said. “The transition hasn’t been that bad, because the older guys on the team have taken me under their wing.”
Feldman and Jefferson-Dow are among the five first-years that started in the Rutgers contest. In total, there are 16 first-year and sophomore players on the Hoyas’ 23-player roster.
“People say it’s a young team, but there’s so much talent,” Hogan said. “As an older player, I only wish I had a year or two more.”
Neither of the senior co-captains?goalkeeper Brian O’Hagan, who is injured, and forward Tim McNally?saw playing time against the Scarlet Knights, but Tabatznik is not concerned about a lack of leadership on the field.
“That is something we’re working on,” he said. “Captain or not, you always need to be looking to see what players you can squeeze some extra quality minutes out of.”
Georgetown will play next against Boston College at home on Sept. 28 at 1 p.m. The No. 21 Eagles have won each of their last three games against the Hoyas by one goal, and are fresh off a win against No. 9 Boston University.
“Boston College has earned their ranking, but hopefully we can believe in ourselves. [The Rutgers game] is a statement of how bright the future is,” Tabatznik said.
