The No. 10 Georgetown men’s soccer team (11-3-2, 5-1-1 Big East) fell to St. John’s (8-6-2, 5-2-1 Big East), 1-0, on the road on Saturday evening. The game’s lone goal was scored by St. John’s senior midfielder David Enstrom.
With the Georgetown loss, Butler (11-4-1, 7-1-0 Big East) clinches the Big East regular season championship. The remaining spots in the conference tournament hold a variety of possibilities, with Marquette (3-10-2, 3-4-1 Big East), Providence (5-7-4, 2-2-4 Big East), and Creighton (9-5-2, 3-3-2 Big East) all battling for the final two places in the field. Georgetown, St. John’s, and Xavier (10-4-2, 5-3 Big East), have all clinched their spots in the tournament, but each team could finish as high as second or as low as fourth. The Hoyas can guarantee at least third place in the conference with a win on Wednesday against Creighton. Should Georgetown win and St. John’s lose on Wednesday night, the Hoyas would secure second place and a first round bye.
Georgetown earned the game’s first quality chance on a corner kick in the fourth minute, but the attempt was headed wide by freshman defender Sean O’Hearn. Twelve minutes later, senior midfielder Christopher Lema registered the first shot on goal for the Hoyas, but it was saved by redshirt junior goalkeeper Andrew Withers. Georgetown continued to dominate the next ten minutes of play, earning two more corners. Consecutive shots by freshman midfielder Jacob Montes and senior forward Declan McCabe were blocked in the 25th minute.
With fifteen minutes remaining in the first half, Lema was whistled for a foul and given a yellow card. On the ensuing free kick, Enstrom found the end of a pass for a headed goal to give the Red Storm a 1-0 advantage. Both offenses stagnated after the St. John’s goal, with another shot on goal from Lema 30 seconds before the intermission being the only quality look for either team before halftime.
After the half, the Red Storm were extremely aggressive offensively, forcing two saves from Georgetown junior goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski in the period’s opening seven minutes. Again, both teams struggled to find rhythm for the following twenty minutes. Georgetown’s best equalizing chance fell to the foot of McCabe in the 77th minute, but his shot hit the crossbar. From there, the St. John’s defense held its lines defensively and saw out the victory.
The Hoyas will host Creighton on Wednesday at 2:00 pm on Shaw Field for Senior Day. Follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter for live updates throughout the action. The game will also be streamed on the Big East Digital Network.
