The Georgetown men’s soccer team (7-2-4, 2-1-1 Big East) needed every minute of Saturday’s game against DePaul (4-6-2, 1-2-0 Big East) to defeat the Blue Demons, scoring two late goals for a 2-0 victory. The Hoyas traveled to Chicago as the No. 5 ranked team in the nation and came away with their second win in Big East conference play.
“The guys did a good job of being patient and breaking down a well-organized, committed DePaul team,” said Georgetown Head Coach Brian Wiese. “The guys did a good job of not panicking that it was 0-0 with almost 20 minutes to go and kept their way about them waiting for the goal to materialize.”
Although the Hoyas held possession for much of the game, it was DePaul who looked more dangerous in the early stages, producing several chances in the beginning of the first half. As the game wore on, the Hoyas slowly took control, and saw a series of attacks late in the half fall just short of an opener. First, sophomore midfielder Bakie Goodman’s shot was blocked. Then, DePaul goalkeeper Mack Robinson made two difficult saves to stop shots from junior defender Keegan Rosenberry and sophomore forward Brett Campbell.
The Hoyas carried this momentum into the second half, dominating possession and eventually breaking through in the 70th minute. Goodman played the ball in advance of Rosenberry, who flew down the right side of the field. Rosenberry gathered the pass and launched a shot into the right side of the net, just past a diving Robinson. The goal was the first of Rosenberry’s college career.
“Keegan is such a quality, technical player and he’s really capable of scoring goals, so it was almost long overdue,” Wiese said. “It was an important and well taken goal. He has so much quality to him it was just a matter of time.”
Junior forward Brandon Allen then added to the tally in the 78th minute after he was fouled inside the box. He made no mistake on the ensuing penalty kick, firing the ball past Robinson to give the Hoyas some breathing room.
Georgetown outshot DePaul 11-4 on the day, and the defense earned its fifth consecutive shutout.
Following their impressive road performance in Chicago, the Blue and Gray returned home to host the Providence Friars on Wednesday. Due to inclement weather, the contest was rescheduled from a 4 p.m. to a 10 a.m. kickoff. The uncertainty about the field conditions played a part in neutralizing home-field advantage for the Hoyas, who missed the support of many fans who skipped the game due to Wednesday morning classes.
The Hoyas struggled early on against the Friars, who struck first just two minutes into the contest. A streaking run and cross from Providence winger Fabio Machado found forward Mac Steeves, whose header bounced off the far post. Fortunately for the Friars, the ball rebounded straight back to Steeves, who calmly found the back of the net.
After falling behind, the Hoyas struggled to find their rhythm in the remainder of the first half. The Blue and Gray began to commit many players into the attack with the hopes of finding an equalizer before the conclusion of the half, but were exposed a second time by a Providence counter-attack in the 38th minute. The Hoyas found themselves in an unfamiliar 2-0 hole going into halftime.
Though the Hoyas threatened on several occasions in the second half, the Friars were content with conceding possession while sitting back and protecting their lead. Georgetown’s persistent attacks allowed the Hoyas to win seven corner kicks in the second half, but the team was unable to capitalize on each of these chances. Despite outshooting the Friars 12-11, the Hoyas were shutout and fell for the first time in more than a month.
“I think this was the flattest performance we’ve had all year,” Wiese said. “We have to give a lot of credit to Providence for executing what they wanted to do. They’re well-coached and well-organized, and they’ll be a team that is a potential candidate to win the league.”
The Hoyas will now try to rebound in South Orange, N.J., where they will take on the Seton Hall Pirates at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18. With just five games left in their Big East campaign, there is little room for error as the Hoyas’ quest for a first-ever Big East Championship continues.
Though several tough tests lie ahead for the Blue and Gray, Wiese still believes his team has the quality to contend for a conference title.
“If you take each game one at a time, we still fancy ourselves as being very capable of winning the league.”
Photo by Anna Runova
