Sports

Men’s soccer celebrates 50th anniversary

By the

November 6, 2003


Georgetown’s 1-0 loss on Saturday to the Connecticut Huskies on North Kehoe Field didn’t marr the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Georgetown men’s soccer and the twentieth anniversary of Head Coach Keith Tabatznik’s career at Georgetown.

The game brought back Georgetown alumni from as far back as fifty years ago, as well as the remnants of the pots-and-spoons- the raucous fan club banned by the NCAA for being too radical in the mid 90’s. The rowdy crowd brought back memories of the glory days of Georgetown soccer in the mid-to-late nineties during the reign of players such as Kenny Owens and Eric Kvello.

“The biggest credit goes to the guys who came through here, especially in the 1994-1997 years, for putting the program on the map,” said Tabatznik.

During the first half of the match, both teams played an even game, maintaining position for equal time and posting very similar statistics. Georgetown had four shots while the Huskies had three and both goalies had one save a piece.

UConn’s first-and-only goal was scored by first-year forward Steve Sealy in a flurry of action. Sealy’s initial shot hit senior keeper Tim Hogan’s chest, bounced back to senior midfielder Lindon Pecorelli, who passed to Sealy who ripped a shot into the left corner of the net. The goal all but ended the Hoyas season and chances of post-season play.

“It’s a good feeling, a good feeling to know that the goal ended Georgetown’s season,” Sealy said.

The Hoyas certainly had their chances. In the second half, junior back Dan Gargan came close to tying the score in the 41st minute, but his shot rolled in front of the goal to the right post.

“I don’t think we had too many awful mistakes, said first year midfielder Dan Grasso. “It was a pretty even game but we couldn’t get some lucky breaks.”

Statistics show that the game was evenly matched as both teams finished with the same amount of shots on goal. Connecticut Head Coach Ray Reed disagreed, however, feeling that Georgetown was outplayed by Huskies sophomore keeper Adam Schuermann.

“It was even but let’s give Adam some credit because Adam makes a huge save on a penalty shot, and Adam wins the game for us,” said Reed. “I thought Connecticut was the better team today we just didn’t finish well; Adam bailed us out at the end.”

In the 11th minute, the Hoyas were awarded a penalty kick after some rough play by the Huskies, but sophomore Jeff Curtin kicked the ball right into Schuerman’s hands. This is the first kick Curtin has missed in four tries.

“I was noticing how he plays the ball during the game and it looked like he played out swinging ball to my left and I just went that way and just got lucky,” said Schuerman. “That’s just the way things work out sometimes.”

The game marked the last appearances of seniors Carl Skanderup, Tim Hogan and midfielder David Eder at Kehoe Field.

“Carl and Tim have meant a lot to the program,” said Tabatznik. “Dave Eder in his two years has been a versatile player for us too.”

The returning alumni did a good job of keeping everyone in the game when one of the alumns had the crowd stand for the final eight minutes of the game. The pots and spoons, although now extinct at North Kehoe, were nothing new to Connecticut’s Sealy, who hails from Trinidad.

That’s something from back home and we’re accustomed to those things,” said Sealy.

The Hoyas finished their season yesterday with a 2-0 win at Delaware. Gargan scored the first goal unassisted in the 58th minute while first-year Ricky Schramm added the second in the 79th minute with assists from Gargan and Skanderup.

The Hoyas finished the season at 8-9-2. The loss to the Huskies kept them from making the Big East Playoffs.


Voice Staff
The staff of The Georgetown Voice.


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