The Georgetown men’s soccer team has found that loving feeling or whatever it was that they lost during the past two weekend home games, defeating the Syracuse Orangemen this Saturday 4-1 on North Kehoe Field to inch closer to the .500 mark.
Following the team’s first win in three games last Wednesday at Villanova, the Hoyas won their second straight Big East match with a brilliant second half performance against Syracuse.
“We’re looking at the fact that we had a good solid game at Villanova and we used the same lineup as the Villanova match, which is pretty unusual,” said Head Coach Keith Tabatznik. “The intensity was not there in the first half, but this is the way we would like to see games finished.”
The first half echoed trends of games lost the previous two weekends. The slow start was further clouded by a goal from Syracuse sophomore forward Jeff Evans 20 minutes into the half. Evans and first-year midfielder Frank Bruno relayed passes on the way to Hoyas senior keeper Tim Hogan’s box. Evans ripped Bruno’s last pass right through Hogan’s hands and into the lower left corner. The Orangemen were up 1-0 at the half.
The Hoyas struck back with a strong second-half performance which saw two goals from sophomore forward Kaiser Chowdhry.
“Goals are important to me, I’m not going to lie, but it’s more important that the team won,” said Chowdhry. “I’ve been feeling pretty unlucky the last few games and I’m just glad my playing has finally paid off.”
Junior back Dan Gargan scored the Hoyas’ first goal with a shot resembling a pass, which rolled by Syracuse sophomore keeper Alim Karim.
Shortly thereafter, Gargan nearly struck again on a header ball. Senior defender Carl Skanderup sent a crossing pass to a streaking Gargan who missed the net by inches.
Chowdhry felt the spirit and found his shot in the 62nd minute, as he netted a second one for the Hoyas with a pass from sophomore midfield Dan Pydo. In the 73rd minute, Chowdhry struck again on a header assisted by Gargan.
First-year forward Ricky Schramm capped the fiesta with Georgetown’s fourth and final goal in the 80th minute. Schramm drove the shot into the lower left post while being defended by two Orangemen players.
For their efforts against Syracuse, Gargan and Schramm were named men’s Big East players of the week. It’s the second time this year each player has received the conference honors.
The Hoyas travel to South Orange, N.J. to take on the Seton Hall Pirates this Saturday in a decisive Big East contest.
“We have to win [this game] to keep the season going,” said Chowdhry.
The match is set for 1 p.m.
