The No. 13 Georgetown men’s soccer team kicks off its 2018 schedule on Friday at South Carolina. The Gamecocks are one of several tough non-conference opponents the Hoyas will face as they aim to improve upon their dramatic season from a year ago.
2017 marked yet another impressive season for Georgetown. The Hoyas lost just four games all year, securing a winning record for the seventh time in the past eight seasons, and won the Big East tournament in a thrilling double-overtime match against Xavier. That performance lived up to the standard of excellence set by head coach Brian Wiese and his players year after year ever since Georgetown’s magical run to the College Cup final back in 2012.
However, despite formidable regular season records and impressive performances against the conference in recent seasons, the team has been unable to replicate the 2012 squad’s success in the NCAA tournament. 2017 was particularly disappointing, as the Hoyas lost 2-1 in their first game of the tournament against SMU in a double-overtime heartbreaker at Shaw Field. It was a demoralizing end to the season for a team that had high hopes.
Senior defender and captain Brendan McDonough, who has seen everything from a forgettable losing season in 2016 to a run to the NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen round in 2015 during his time on the Hilltop, is one of many players who believes last year’s squad could have reached greater heights.
“None of us were satisfied with the result, especially the way that it ended,” he said. “We thought we had a team that could really compete for the College Cup, so naturally when you get eliminated on your home field in the first round, you feel bummed out. It was definitely a short season in our eyes and we thought we could have gone the distance for sure.”
Exceeding last year’s performance will not be easy, especially considering the players that have departed the program in the offseason. Standout midfielders Declan McCabe and Christopher Lema both graduated, with Lema signing a professional contract with the New York Red Bulls. Lema started all 20 games for Georgetown as a senior, notching four goals and four assists, while serving as a set-piece specialist. He was named to both the All-Big East first team and the Big East All-Tournament team. McCabe started in 16 of the 19 games in which he appeared. He was an elite playmaker for the Hoya attack last season, leading the Big East in assists with 10, while also scoring three goals. McCabe was also a clutch performer, converting off of a free kick in the 108th minute of the Big East championship game. He was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Offensive Player for his contributions and made the All-Big East second team.
Senior midfielder and captain Kyle Zajec, who will be asked to shoulder a greater load this season himself, noted the gravity of his former teammates’ departures.
“They’re definitely tough guys to replace,” he said. “They worked hard and they brought a lot of qualities on and off the field.”
Fortunately, midfield is easily the deepest area of Wiese’s roster. Alongside Zajec, sophomore midfielder Jacob Montes started all twenty games for the Hoyas last year and was named to the Big East All-Freshman team. With two goals and five assists to his name last season, expect Montes to take over many of the attacking midfield duties left behind by McCabe and Lema. Additionally, senior midfielder/forward Ethan Lochner, senior midfielder Edson Martinez, and sophomore midfielder/defender Foster McCune, who each made double-digit appearances last season, are all returning. Wiese also added five freshman midfielders to his roster, providing further depth. He has assembled a midfield unit that will give plenty of players the opportunity to replace the crucial production provided by McCabe and Lema last season.
The loss between the sticks could end up being far more significant. Goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski has been a staple of Georgetown soccer for the past three seasons, starting every game, while earning numerous accolades. Before Marcinkowski it was Tomas Gomez who was the clearcut number one goalkeeper for his three years in blue and gray. Last December though, Marcinkowski signed a Homegrown Player contract with the San Jose Earthquakes, opting not to return for his senior year. His absence means that there will be an open competition between the sticks for the first time in quite a while. Freshman Giannis Nikopolidis, who comes to Georgetown after playing with Olympiakos’ youth team in Greece, will have to contend with veterans, senior Maurice Coyle and sophomore Ethan Koehler, for the starting role. Coach Wiese acknowledged the ambiguity of his goalkeeping situation heading into the season.
“When you look at the three goalkeepers we have now, it’s the first time we’ve had a proper goalkeeping competition going through preseason and going through the first part of the season,” he said. “I don’t know if we’ll be settled as to who our guy is until later on. It’s a good problem and a hard problem.”
One area of the team with much less uncertainty is up top. Despite missing the first half of the season in 2017, junior forward Achara still managed to notch an impressive seven goals. Joining him in leading the attack will be sophomore forward Derek Dodson, who had an outstanding freshman season. In just his first year on the Hilltop, Dodson scored 10 goals, third best in the conference, was featured on the Big East All-Tournament team and the All-Big East second team, and was named Big East Freshman of the year. Big things are expected of the striker in his second season, but the bigger challenge this year is for the two forwards work well together.
“I think, on paper, it’s one of the most exciting attacks there is in the country,” Wiese said. “But we’re really just trying to get the chemistry put together over the course of the regular season, so there is really a lot to be determined in terms of how they mesh and go, but they have really special tools.”
Another solid piece of the team is the back line, with last year’s entire starting defensive unit of McDonough, senior Peter Schropp, sophomore Sean O’Hearn, and junior Dylan Nealis set to return in 2018. The Hoyas allowed just 15 goals last season, second-best in the conference behind St. John’s, so whoever starts in goal can expect a strong defensive wall to protect him. McDonough, who was named All-Big East first team last season, was picked as the Big East Preseason Defender of the Year and appeared on the MAC Hermann Trophy watch list. As a leader on the team, McDonough appreciates being honored, but at this point in his career he is focused on only one goal.
“I’m honored and it’s humbling to get the award, but I focus more on the team than individual awards,” he said. “Whatever I can do to get us to the end goal of winning the regular season Big East and tournament again and getting down to Santa Barbara.”
Reaching the NCAA final is certainly a lofty goal, but if nothing else, opposing coaches seem to have faith in the Hoyas. They picked Georgetown to repeat as Big East champions and selected three Hoyas to the Preseason All-Big East team. Additionally, in the United Soccer Coaches poll, Georgetown begins the season as the 13th ranked team in the country.
That said, nothing will be easy for the Hoyas this year as they move on from the devastating SMU loss without two standout midfielders and their star goalkeeper. But perhaps that loss was just the chip on the shoulder they need to make this another special season.
“Last year going into our opening game, we were sitting there, whistle blows, and we take a deep breath and you say ‘well let’s see, we got here, how good are we going to be,’” Wiese said. “And as it turned out, the season went really well. And this year’s the same. You are going into it with all your challenges lying in front of you and you just don’t know how the team’s going to respond to the successes and the hardships.”
South Carolina is the first matchup for the Hoyas this season. It will take place at 7 p.m. ET on Friday in Columbia, SC. Follow @GUVoiceSports for updates and game recaps throughout the men’s soccer season, as well as coverage for the rest of the school sports throughout the year.
