Men’s soccer Head Coach Keith Tabatznik notched his 200th career win Wednesday when the Hoyas turned a one-goal halftime deficit into a 2-1 victory against visiting University of Delaware. Junior midfielder Danny McAnally netted the game-winner in the 80th minute.
“I hoped to get it out of the way in 2003, but since we couldn’t do that, getting it done in the first game is great,” Tabatznik said. “It’s one of those things, you’d be lying if you didn’t say it was in the back of your mind.”
The Blue Hens opened the scoring in the 12th minute. Senior midfielder Richard Zeller played a one-two to fellow senior midfielder Adam Flanigan who tucked the ball away for the game’s first goal. The Hoyas fought back, keeping the Delaware defenders confounded with short, quick touches. In the 33rd minute, sophomore midfielder Daniel Grasso put a shot on net that forced Delaware’s senior goalkeeper Kyle Haynes to make a diving save, but the Hoyas were unable to finish the ensuing loose ball.
“We were so tight, and as things didn’t work out, balls are bouncing all over the place,” Tabatznik said. “We were fortunate not to get frustrated, one of the things we said at halftime, was that we’ve got to pick up the intensity, but we’ve got to be composed.”
“You’re coming out for the first game of the season on you’re home field, and you’ve got to play with some intensity,” senior midfielder Dan Gargan said. “We didn’t come out as intense as we should have.”
The second half saw a much cleaner Georgetown team. In the 48th minute, senior midfielder Trevor Goodrich received a ball near the touch-line on the right side, however his cross just sailed over the head of streaking sophomore forward Ricky Schramm. Just a few minutes later in the 55th minute Georgetown broke through. Co-captain Gargan opened the 2004 scoring sheet with a stylish goal. A McAnally through ball down the right side set up Schramm who picked up the ball and used some fancy dribbling in the penalty box to force Delaware’s Haynes out of position. Schramm spotted Gargan just beyond the penalty mark, and fed him a ball that was hammered into the back of the net for the equalizer.
Shortly after, the Hoyas nearly struck again. This time, it was Gargan making the feed from the touch-line, although no one was in the middle to capitalize on the wide open net. Georgetown continued attacking the Blue Hens’ zone in large part to a midfield that was able to control the ball well. Led by senior co-captain Kevin Sindelar, the Hoyas maintained possession, and allowed just two shots in the second half.
Georgetown continued to apply pressure, and were finally able to notch the game-winner in the 80th minute. First-year forward Mike Glaccum outpaced a Delaware defender to a loose ball, however his shot was deflected at the last second into the corner. Glaccum picked it up, and hit McAnally at the top of the box for a low drive into the lower left corner of the net.
“There were a lot of nervous players out there, and once we get that out of the way I think we’ll be fine,” Tabatznik said. “It wasn’t the cleanest performance in terms of execution. Our ideas were good, but the execution has got to be there.”
Despite the tentative moments, Georgetown was able to build up their attack and intertwine clever balls on attack.
“It started when we took a trip to Barcelona in the spring, and got to see a lot of high-level soccer.,” Gargan said. “We played Barcelona’s reserves, Espanyola’s reserves. You really had to play one-touch. We’re trying to build on that.”
This weekend the team will defend its title at the D.C. College Cup, with games against George Washington on Saturday and American on Monday. All games will be played at American University.
