On an overcast Saturday afternoon at Shaw Field, the Georgetown men’s soccer team (5-2-2, 1-0 Big East), with the help of a marvelous left-footed strike by junior forward Brett Campbell, defeated Providence (4-3-1, 0-1 Big East) 1-0 in both teams’ Big East openers.
“Brett had a really world-class finish in there, which was really what we needed,” said Head Coach Brian Wiese. “A lot of our attacking pieces are finding ways to get goals and this was a hard match to find them.”
The Hoyas dominated possession and the game’s tempo throughout the first half of the game, with sophomore central midfielders Christopher Lema and Arun Basuljevic playing brilliant build-up play and threading passes through and around Providence defenders early on. As the first half wound to a close, however, the Blue and Gray had nothing to show for their dizzying combination display, as the Friars seemed more than content to sit back in their defensive half and try to exploit Georgetown miscues on the counterattack.
“I think the first half was really good. We made them chase a lot defensively and that wears a team out,” Wiese said. “I think the end of the first half, we started getting impatient. We stopped moving the ball at the same tempo we were doing for the first thirty minutes. But when we space the ball and move well, it’s really hard to handle us.”
In the second half, the Hoyas began to space the pitch better and tested Providence’s sophomore keeper Ben Seguljic with a few early chances. The game was still knotted up until the 64th minutes, when junior striker Alex Muyl found senior forward Brandon Allen near the edge of the penalty area. Allen danced past a defender and slotted a pass to Campbell, who curled a left-footed effort around Seguljic and into the top left corner of the net, breaking the ice and giving the Hoyas a 1-0 lead.
The game opened up significantly after Campbell’s goal, as the Friars committed more men to the attack hoping to find a goal of their own. Though the Hoyas conceded four corners to the Friars in the second half, the defending Big East champions were unable to find an equalizer and the Hoyas extended their undefeated streak to six games.
In years past, the Hoyas have struggled to translate any offensive rhythm into goals against the Friars, who are well-known for committing eight or nine field players behind the ball at all times in attempt to disrupt midfield connections. Last season, Providence stifled the Hoyas in their 2-0 victory at Shaw Field.
Before Saturday’s contest, however, many of Georgetown’s returners knew exactly what to expect from the Friars.
“That’s what Providence has done well against us in the past: they put a lot of guys behind the ball and then they counter really quickly,” said junior striker Alex Muyl, who added an assist on the lone Georgetown goal. “We knew that it would be frustrating playing against them and that it might be a 1-0 game. I know teams in the past we’ve gotten frustrated and that’s when they’ve hurt us. I think we all did a good job of keeping our heads.”
The Hoyas’ defeat of Providence capped off the most taxing stretch of Georgetown’s schedule this season: the Blue and Gray played four games in ten days, including contests away at West Virginia and VCU. With this stretch behind them, Coach Wiese is glad that his team has a week to rest and regroup before traveling to Cincinnati, Ohio, where they will face off against the Xavier Musketeers (7-2, 1-0 in Big East) next Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
“They need a break,” said Wiese. “We’re not training tomorrow and we’re not training on Monday, and (the team) celebrated that more than they celebrated the goal today. I think there was somebody doing a knee slide in the corner when I told them we weren’t doing a training session.”
“But they need a mental break as much as they need a physical break, so it’s really nice when you have a full week coming off of good momentum so that you’re feeling pretty good and mentally you’re in a good spot.”
