In what is becoming a theme for the season, the Georgetown men’s soccer team (3-7-0, 2-4-0 BE) dropped their third game in a row, 2-1 in another overtime heartbreaker after failing to put away a number of chances against the visiting No. 21 Seton Hall Pirates (7-3-0, 5-1-0 BE).
“After we scored … we were the team that was getting behind them,” Head Coach Brian Wiese said. “We created so many very good opportunities to go up 2-0, which for me would have iced the game. We just didn’t take it.”
The Pirates looked to rebound quickly coming off their loss to West Virginia (7-1-2, 4-1-1 BE), which snapped their six-game win streak last Saturday. Nine minutes into the contest, Seton Hall had two opportunities to get on the board. Senior forward John Raus centered a ball from the right side, catching Georgetown junior keeper Joe Devine in poor position, but Hoya first-year midfielder Mark Zeman blocked junior defender Yomar Gonzalez’s shot. Seton Hall sophomore forward Eliseo Giusfredi’s shot off the rebound was saved as Devine scrambled back into position.
The Hoyas opened up the scoring in the 56th minute as sophomore defender Alex Pangraze notched his first collegiate goal, one-timing a corner kick taken by sophomore midfielder Corey Zeller.
“I thought Alex did well for us today,” junior forward Mike Glaccum said. “He’s asked to step into a tough position a lot of the time, and it’s really hard to step into center back as a substitute. It’s the hardest position to step onto the field and get a feel for the game, and I thought he played well defensively and obviously had a great finish.”
The Pirates knotted up the score in the 80th minute, as Raus surprised Devine with a shot from 25 yards out that hit off the left post and into the back of the net.
“It was a great shot,” Wiese said. “That goal was scored from a lack of pressure on the ball, and as a result the guy hit it well, and I don’t think Joe was expecting the shot.”
This goal was especially hard to swallow, coming directly after Georgetown failed to capitalize on two golden opportunities. With 14:47 left in regulation the ball was collected in the box by first-year midfielder Scott Larrabee, who passed to senior midfielder Daniel Grasso. His shot from just outside the six-yard box was quickly stopped by Seton Hall first-year keeper Paul McHenry. Three minutes later senior forward Ricky Schramm dropped the ball back to Glaccum at midfield, who one-timed back to Schramm for a one-on-one opportunity. McHenry once again came up with a spectacular save.
“That was [Paul’s] third game, but we have all the confidence in the world in him,” Seton Hall Head Coach Manny Schellscheidt said. “He deserves every minute of his game time, and he proved us right.”
The game would head into an extra period, where the Hoyas would lose their third overtime game of the season. In the 98th minute senior midfielder Teddy Niziolek scored past Devine on a shot from 12 yards out off a one-timer from Raus, giving Seton Hall the edge in four of the last five meetings between the schools. At the end of the day, it was the Hoyas who outshot the Pirates but were unable to find any treasure behind McHenry, who stopped four shots on the afternoon.
“In soccer, if you don’t take your chances, it doesn’t matter how good you are,” Wiese said. “You have to finish.”
The Hoyas next travel to Providence College (7-2-0, 4-1-0 BE) on Saturday to play the Friars at 1 p.m.
