The Georgetown men’s soccer team returns this season a year older and a year wiser.
“The year of experience that we got last year was vital,” said Senior defender and co-captain Carl Skanderup.
When it comes to experience, Skanderup is somewhat alone with only keeper Tim O’Hagan and midfielder David Eder returning for their senior season. The 2003 Hoyas will continue the youth insurrection with a squad that boasts seven sophomores and five first-years. Last year’s team was the youngest in team history.
“The early things that are coming out are that they understand how important it is to take care of the little things day in and day out,” said Head Coach Keith Tabatznik.
When Tabatznik speaks of his team, he mentions the “learning curve” that the team has endured the past season and into this one. After losing the first three games of last season, the team rallied to win eight of its remaining fourteen games. The run was marked by a hard-fought 0-0 draw with then No. 1 St. John’s.
“They really did learn from the early difficult times we had,” said Tabatznik.
The team’s focus during preseason has been to give an all-out team effort. For Skanderup, it means that guys are cleaning up the fields after practice. For Tabatznik, it means earning every inch of the field. The team’s efforts showed in a scrimmage against George Washington, which Georgetown won 3-0.
“After the scrimmage, one of the comments made by the other coaches was that we fought for everything,” said Tabatznik.
The team returns a core of veteran players who should offer a consistent effort. Between co-captains Skanderup and junior defender Dan Gargan, the team has efficient leadership and two gritty defenders with a nose for the ball. Also returning is Preseason All-Big East team selection, sophomore defender Jeff Curtin. While anchoring the back line, Curtin also has a sure-footed leg that notched three goals last season.
If the team hopes to improve on last year’s 8-9 mark, however, the offense will need to step up a bit more. Last year’s squad scored only 25 goals, led by sophomore forward Kemmons Feldman’s six.
“Do we have guys who will score 15 goals? Probably not. But we have a couple of guys who can score five to 10 goals,” said Tabatznik.
From the perspective of the two captains, who are also defenders, the objective is clear.
“We’re hoping to hold teams to none to one goal per game, which I think we can do given the defense we’re designed to play,” said Skanderup.
“I think there’s a definite possibility to score a lot of goals, though,” adds Gargan. “We have a lot of dangerous players who are getting to the point where they’re starting to work better together as partners, and that will help create a lot of opportunities.
The team hopes to return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1997. Despite 11 straight appearances the Big East championship, Georgetown has often found itself on the outside looking in come tournament time.
“The top five teams from the Big East usually get to the tournament. If we can take care of our business in the Big East and the games we need to win outside of our conference, we should be fine,” said Skanderup.
The team opens the regular season this weekend by hosting the 3rd Annual D.C. College Cup. Their first game will be on Friday against Howard at 2:30 p.m. The team will also play American on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
