The Georgetown men’s soccer team (6-8-2, 3-3-2 Big East) defeated Villanova (9-6-2, 4-3-1 Big East) by a score of 3-2 at home on Saturday. The Hoyas were led by goals from freshman defender Dylan Nealis, junior forward Zach Knudson, and senior midfielder Jon Azzinnari.
The win keeps the Blue and Gray in contention for a berth in the Big East Tournament. The team has been plagued by inconsistency throughout the year, but in their last four games the team has not lost, and now has the chance to enter the postseason as the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament.
Throughout the first half of Saturday’s contest, the teams exchanged possession in what was a very evenly matched game. It was Villanova who struck first with a goal from senior forward Padraic McCullaugh in the 28th minute. The ball was crossed into the box by Villanova junior midfielder Lucas Hodges, and McCullaugh directed a header perfectly toward the post, just past the outstretched arms of Georgetown sophomore goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski.
It did not take long for the Hoyas to respond, as just over ten minutes later Nealis recorded his first goal of the season on a corner set piece. Junior midfielder Christopher Lema serviced the ball toward the far post, where Nealis made a perfect run and leaped above the Villanova defense for the headed goal.
Heading into the half, the teams were tied at 1-1. With postseason implications on the line, the Hoyas were well aware that a win was absolutely necessary..
“It was win or go home, everything or nothing,” Knudson said.
“We had the mentality that you had to have three (points) today,” said Georgetown Head Coach Brian Wiese. “We wanted to be sure we had something to play for on Thursday, and the win here assured that.”
In the second half, Georgetown capitalized on yet another corner kick, as Lema delivered another excellent service into the middle of the box. Knudson maneuvered his way into an attacking position, and was able to head the ball into the top corner.
“As you can see (Junior midfielder) Arun’s (Basuljevic) runs were perfect and distracted the defenders. We were just able to get into great spots there,” noted Lema.
“It’s nice to score two goals on corners, because we had 14 corner kicks. They have two guys that zone, so we tried to clog up the zoning players to make sure they couldn’t make a free run at the ball. After that it was just about beating your man to the ball, and we have some guys that are really good in the air. Two world-class goals off of set pieces, we’re happy we executed,” added Wiese.
Even with the one goal lead, Georgetown continued to commit numbers to the attack. This gamble paid off in the 70th minute, when Azzinnari slotted a low shot into the corner to give the Hoyas a 3-1 lead.
Facing a two-goal deficit, Villanova was not content to simply concede a loss with twenty minutes remaining in the game. The Wildcats incessantly attacked within the contest’s final stages, getting deep into the Georgetown defense on multiple occasions. In the 81st minute, Villanova scored on a header to close within one goal of the Hoyas.
Just minutes later, the Wildcats were inches from tying the game. A corner kick led to a series of four consecutive headers, but Marcinkowski made an excellent diving save to thwart the Villanova comeback effort. From there, the Georgetown offense sat on the ball and maintained possession to secure the victory.
With just one game remaining on the season, the Hoyas sit at seventh place on the Big East conference table, just one point behind DePaul for the sixth and final spot in the conference tournament. With a win against on the road Creighton on Thursday, the Blue and Gray would guarantee a birth in the postseason.
With a four-game unbeaten streak under their belts, the team hopes to continue this success into Thursday’s finale.
“I think we’re confident,” said Lema. “I’m confident in my players, and I’m sure they’re also confident in the team. I think we’re going to go in there and play just as well as today or even better.”
