Georgetown split a pair of exciting games this week, falling to conference rival West Virginia on Saturday 1-0 in overtime, then notched a thrilling 2-1 overtime win against cross-town rival American University on Tuesday.
Behind a stellar performance from freshman goalkeeper Matthew Brutto, who suffered the overtime loss despite stopping five shots, the Hoyas finished regulation deadlocked with West Virginia. On offense, Corey Zeller and senior forward Mike Glaccum created scoring opportunities on the attack, but the Hoyas couldn’t find the net, being shut out for the eighth time this season.
“We put a lot of pressure on Georgetown,” Mountaineers Head Coach Marlon LeBlanc said of the home victory in a post-game press release. “At the end of the day, I think the quality of our team showed tonight.”
Georgetown’s Tuesday match-up with American couldn’t have been more different than Saturday’s loss.
The Eagles were on the board first when sophomore forward Jake Van Yahres took possession after Hoyas sophomore defender Len Coleman misplayed a pass back to senior keeper Joe Devine. Van Yahres immediately took advantage of the miscue, putting AU up in the fortieth minute.
Georgetown didn’t wait long to strike back in the second half. Within six minutes, sophomore midfielder Scott Larrabee netted the equalizer on a one-timer to the low right corner. After his volley tied the match, both sides held their respective ground to force overtime.
“I think our biggest weakness is that we weren’t moving well off the ball,” Eagles assistant coach Steve Totten said. “Our offense seemed a little bit stagnant. Georgetown has a very big back line so we knew we weren’t going to be able to serve too many balls.”
The Hoyas wasted no time in the extra period, as freshman midfielder Seth C’deBaca sent a cross to the top of the six-yard box that Diggs was able to head in for the game-winner just four minutes into the extra session. C’deBaca assisted on both goals and Diggs tallied a goal and an assist for the game.
“We have been playing well against a lot of top 25 teams, playing them close and tough but haven’t been able to finish so it was important to do that today,” C’deBaca said.
“Soccer is a funny game,” Georgetown Head Coach Brian Wiese said. “We didn’t play our best today, but we played good soccer at the end and came away with a win.”
First-round home field advantage, with five games left, is not out of the question as Georgetown resumes the conference schedule at Marquette on Saturday for the postseason push.
“Marquette is a massive game for us,” Wiese said. “If we can take care of Marquette we are going to be in great shape for the Big East tournament.”
Additional reporting by David Dietz.
