After an exciting run that clinched a Big East Tournament berth for the Georgetown men’s soccer team, the Hoyas fell short on Wednesday night to the South Florida Bulls in first round action in Tampa. On Saturday, the Hoyas ended their regular season against the No. 9 Fighting Irish of Notre Dame in a thrilling match that was the last at home for seniors Mike Glaccum, Joe Devine and Richard Diaz. It also pitted Head Coach Brian Wiese against his former team.
The Irish (10-3-5, 7-0-4 BE) controlled the entire first half of play, out-shooting the Hoyas 11-0 thanks to a patient and balanced attack. In the second half, Georgetown got off only one shot. While unable to register a goal, the Hoyas’ staunch defense held the Irish scoreless, stopping reigning national player of the year, senior forward Joseph Lapira, who Weise said “took us apart last year.”
The two sides ended what Wiese called a midfield stalemate at 0-0 and went into overtime.
“At the end of regulation going to overtime I said ‘Look, a tie does nothing for us—nothing—so you might as well lose trying to win or win it,’” Wiese said.
The Blue and Gray responded, especially in the second overtime when they reeled off seven shots. They nearly put it away when junior Sean Bellomy’s rip from the outside was deflected back to him, but he missed high on the follow.
“We put their back four under pressure … and it seemed like every time they cleared the ball out it was coming to one of us,” captain Mike Glaccum said.
The Hoyas could not capitalize on those chances, though, and played the highly touted Irish to a respectable draw.
“There was one team trying to win the game in that overtime, and it was us,” Wiese said.
“We’ve definitely been getting better all season, and we were this close to beating a ranked opponent,” captain Joe Devine added. The senior keeper stopped three shots for his fifth shutout in his career home finale for the Hoyas.
Irish Coach Bobby Clark noted that his team, which arrived in D.C. at 1 a.m., seemed to run out of gas late in the match after a strong first half.
“I thought it was a very exciting game,” Clark, for whom Wiese played and whom he later assisted at Stanford and Notre Dame, said. “I thought we dominated the first half … but I thought [Georgetown] showed great energy, great determination … and gave us a really hard time in the second half and especially the second overtime.”
Despite giving Notre Dame all they could handle, Georgetown could not do the same last night against the South Florida Bulls in the first round of the playoffs. The Hoyas were eliminated in a 4-0 loss.
Georgetown and USF both had opportunities in the first half but were unable to convert until the Bulls were first on the board in the 39th minute. Freshman forward Tony Taylor scored in traffic from the top of the six-yard box off a cross from the right by senior midfielder Simon Schoendorf.
The Bulls’ second tally came in the 58th minute when junior midfielder Kevon Neaves took a short cross from Shoendorf on the right and ripped a shot from in front of the goal. Shoendorf had two assists for the match.
In the 74th minute, the Hoyas’ freshman forward Chandler Diggs attempted to score from near the penalty area on a free kick from freshman midfielder Mostafa Ebrahimnejad, but it hit the right post. With the game nearing its end, Neaves tacked on one more in the 87th minute on a drive up the middle, and then fifty-seven seconds later sophomore midfielder Armante Marshall put the icing on the cake with number four on an open goal after freshman keeper Matthew Brutto misplayed the ball.
Brutto saved two out of six shots, and his counterpart Diego Restrepo saved three in the 4-0 shutout for USF. The Hoyas’ typically strong defense allowed thirteen shots, six of which were on goal. The offense, which came alive during their 4-1-1 streak to close the regular season, could not convert any scores.
The win improved USF to 12-4-2 and reserved them a date on Saturday against top-seeded Connecticut in Storrs for the quarterfinal round.
The Hoyas finished the season at 7-11-1 with a Big East record of 5-5-1.
