After the Hoyas’ dramatic victory over the San Diego Toreros men’s soccer team to reach the Final Four of the 2012 NCAA tournament, the morale of the soccer community on the Hilltop reacched an extreme high. A palpable feeling of belief hummed through a record crowd as the final whistle blew on North Kehoe. The community honestly believed the Hoyas had the ability and the drive to make it to the final and even take The College Cup.
Taking their cue, Georgetown defeated no. 2 seeded Maryland on penalties and squared off against Indiana University at the pinnacle of collegiate soccer. Despite losing to the Hoosiers, the Georgetown men’s soccer team made the Hilltop (and the nation) sit up and take notice of what was an underappreciated sports program. In 2013, they have the opportunity to build upon their good work.
Georgetown graduated many strong contributors from last year’s team, such as star defender Tommy Muller, midfielder Ian Christianson, defensive back Jimmy Nealis, and offensive work horse Andy Riemer.
Sophomore defender Cole Seiler said, “The five seniors we had last year provided great leadership. Ian [Christianson] actually just had surgery a couple of weeks ago. I heard he’s doing well. Tommy [Muller] is still out in San Jose and Jimmy is recovering as well.”
Nealis, Muller, and Christianson were all drafted to play professional soccer in the MLS Superdraft. Riemer was later drafted to the Los Angeles Galaxy during the MLS Supplemental Draft. On the surface, the Hoyas appear to have a number of holes to fill in their lineup. Thankfully, due to the versatility and depth of the squad the Hoyas are in much better shape than one may have expected.
Starting forward and 2012 semi-final hat trick hero Steve Neumann returns to the Georgetown line-up with a number of pre-season honors. Not only was Neumann named to TopDrawerSoccer.com’s pre-season Best XI, he also was placed on the Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann trophy watch list, an honor for which he was a semi-finalist last year. Awarded to the best male and female soccer players in the nation, Neumann has as good a shot as anyone at adding the cup to his trophy case.
Also making the Best XI for TopDrawerSoccer is star sophomore Brandon Allen. After enjoying a breakout year with the Hoyas in 2012 and the inevitable graduation of Steve Neumann, all eyes will be trained on Allen in 2013 to see if he has what it takes to lead the Hoyas to glory in the future.
While returning players comprise the backbone of the Georgetown squad, Head Coach Brian Wiese has certainly never shied away from including new recruits in the lineup. The Blue and Gray have made some excellent acquisitions in years past, and 2013 is no exception.
Coach Brian Wiese said, “We’ve got some guys who still need to figure some things out … this team just needs to be reminded that this isn’t last years’ team. It’s a new squad. The freshmen are very exciting pieces of this new squad and now we have to put them all together. It will come.”
While all additions to the Georgetown squad are excellent, perhaps the most exciting is the arrival of freshman forward Alex Muyl. Muyl has made quite the name for himself despite his lack of competitive experience with the Hoyas. He enjoyed incredible success with the Red Bull academy team, a New York development team, and the U-18 United States men’s national squad.
“I’m enjoying it a lot. It’s nice to be on campus and finally get to know the place and the players,” Muyl said. “We have great facilities and it’s a beautiful place to live. It’s been really fun being here so far.”
Muyl and the rest of the Red Bull Academy won the MLS Academy championship and, due to his individual success, he was touted as the top Major League Soccer prospect. Most recently, Muyl suited up for the United States in the Milk Cup in Northern Ireland where he helped the squad to a third place finish, losing to eventual champions Mexico.
Despite losing their final preseason game to Syracuse University, Wiese and his troops are staying positive and have every reason to do so.
“You want the last pre-season game to look a little more like a regular season game. We still got guys that we’re trying to see and trying to get some fitness for, but we’re taking the positives in that it’s teaching our guys how to approach our games.”
