Following a 0-0 draw against Maryland (4-4-3, 2-2-0 Big Ten) on Monday, the Georgetown men’s soccer team (6-3-3, 2-1-1 Big East) will face Big East competition for the remainder of its regular season schedule. On Saturday, the Hoyas will take on Villanova (6-4-1, 1-3-0 Big East) at Shaw Field. Both teams are coming off of disappointing results, with Georgetown failing to score at home and Villanova dropping to ninth place in the Big East after a 1-0 defeat to Xavier (4-3-5, 2-1-1 Big East) in Cincinnati.
Freshman goalkeeper Giannis Nikopolidis had another fine display between the sticks on Monday, notching his third clean sheet in a row, but the Hoya attack has been quiet in recent games. Sophomore forward Derek Dodson and junior forward Achara have combined for nine goals on the season, but neither has found the back of the net in the last three games. In last Saturday’s victory away at Butler (2-8-2, 0-4-0 Big East), the goals both came from deeper in the formation with junior midfielder/defender Dylan Nealis and senior midfielder Kyle Zajec providing the scoring. Zajec has been a strong contributor throughout the season, with three goals and four assists to his name.
The Wildcats have been led by their midfield duo of senior Zach Zandi and sophomore Yusuf Cueceoglu who have combined for 10 of the team’s 12 goals on the season. Villanova has found success against non-conference competition with five wins outside of the Big East, but conference play has been an issue, with just one goal in four games thus far.
The Hoyas hold the edge all time between the teams with a record of 26-11-5, and that trend held last year as Georgetown was victorious in Chester, PA, by a score of 2-0.
With matchups against the top two teams in the conference, Creighton (8-2-1, 4-0-0 Big East) and Providence (6-4-1, 3-1-0 Big East), still yet to come, this game is crucial for the Hoyas in their hopes of defending their Big East title.
Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET and the game will be streamed on the Big East Digital Network. For more updates on men’s soccer and the rest of the fall sports at Georgetown, follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter.
