The Georgetown University men’s soccer team finished the regular season on a disappointing note Saturday, getting shutout in a tough 1-0 loss to No. 7 Connecticut.
Connecticut (12-3-1 overall, 7-3-1 BE) jumped on the board early, in the 28th minute, on a goal by sophomore forward Chukwudi Chijindu. Sophomore forward Ryan Cordeiro and senior midfielder Willis Forko netted assists on the score.
This goal proved to be all the Huskies needed as Georgetown struggled to notch a goal of their own for the rest of the contest. The Hoyas recorded three shots on goal in the second half, but Husky senior goalkeeper Adam Schuerman stopped them all.
Even though they dropped the match, the Hoyas were still encouraged by their effort. They played well against a high-caliber Connecticut team and defensively the Hoyas looked sharp. Despite giving up the game winner, junior keeper Andrew Keszler made seven saves, giving him 67 on the season.
“UConn is good and skill-wise the most talented team that we’ve played,” said Head Coach Keith Tabatznik. “I think our team played really well. We defended the best that we have all year.”
Georgetown ends the season with a 10-8-0 record overall, 6-5-0 in the Big East. With 18 points, they sit alone at fifth place in the Blue Division. The Hoyas ended the season winning three of their final four conference games, sending them to the Big East tournament.
In the first round of the tournament, Georgetown goes on the road to Villanova (7-7-3 overall, 6-4-1 BE) to face the Wildcats, who finished fourth in the league’s Red Division. The Hoyas defeated the Wildcats 2-0 at home in the two teams’ meeting earlier this season. Georgetown also boasts a 15-6-1 all-time record against Villanova, including winning ten of their last eleven games. However, all the past stats and records in the world mean little in the conference tournament. It is win or go home.
“All the statistics go out the door once you go into the tournament, and we’re all 0-0,” Coach Tabatznik emphasized. “Villanova has played extremely well at home. We’ll have our hands full for sure.”
One area of concern for the Hoyas as they head into the tournament is their injury situation. Injuries plagued some of the team’s key players during much of the second half of the season. The team is not 100 percent healthy now, but is closer than it has been in recent weeks.
Keszler feels healthy and has played well recently, allowing only two goals in the team’s final three games. Coach Tabatznik expects senior defender Jeff Curtin to play most of Thursday’s game after Curtin has seen limited action in recent weeks. Overall, the team will be ready to play.
“We’re looking pretty fired up after a kind of disappointing loss at UConn,” Keszler said. “We didn’t get the result that we wanted and want to rectify it in the playoffs and make a god run in there.”
The winner of the Georgetown-Villanova match-up will face Blue Division No. 1 seed Connecticut in the quarterfinals on Sunday.