The No. 12 Georgetown men’s soccer team (9-1-1, 3-0-1 Big East ) defeated the Seton Hall Pirates (5-5-0, 2-2-0 Big East) Friday afternoon in a 2-0 bout on Shaw Field.
The match started off with a beautiful drive down the pitch by Hoyasfreshman forward Dante Polvara, who scraped by multiple defenders before dishing to senior middie Dylan Nealis for a shot from outside on the right that barely cleared the net. The offense continued to pummel shots toward the net for the rest of the first period in much the same manner. Senior forward Achara had a great look coming up on the left side of the field, sprinting wide past two defenders on his own, but ended up shooting wide right to miss the net.
A poor cross from the Hoyas defense left them vulnerable, but the Pirates couldn’t follow up in their only clean look in the first period, only managing a wild shot off the mark, which was saved by sophomore goalkeeper Giannis Nikopolidis. Pirates senior forward Carlton McKenzie made several big plays including a steal and an intercepted volley from Hoyas keeper but failed to convert either.
Despite applying pressure in the first period, the Blue and Gray struggled to convert their offense into goals. Missed open shots, blocked headers, and errant crosses doomed several plays in the final third, leaving the score 0-0 at the half.
In the second period, the Hoyas continued to control the flow of the game, but were now able to capitalize. Within the first five minutes of the half they had four attempts on goal, the last one by Achara finally penetrating the Pirates defense to put Georgetown up 1-0. SHU then managed to get the ball upfield and made several attempts, none of which were successful. A simultaneous red card and yellow card on the Pirates in the 60th took the air out of their lungs, however, as they were unable to muster up any offense for the remainder of the match. The Georgetown squad didn’t let up despite their lead, keeping up the shots on goal well into the later parts of the match, eventually sealing the game with another goal by Achara in the 90th minute.
The Hoyas next match will be against Maryland (6-3-2, 1-1-2 Big Ten) on Monday, October 14th at 1pm and will be live on FS1. Follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter for updates and game recaps throughout the men’s soccer season, as well as coverage of the rest of the school sports throughout the year.
