Georgetown men’s soccer (2-1-1, BIG EAST) gave up a three-goal lead and drew 3-3 against Fordham (2-0-2, Atlantic 10) on Monday, Sept. 4 at Shaw Field. The Hoyas played a strong first half and dominated possession but fell flat in the second half and gave up three unanswered goals. A goal by Fordham sophomore midfielder Daniel D’Ippolito with only ten seconds left tied the game up and left the Hoyas with no chance of finding a winning shot.
Georgetown started the game off strong, controlling possession and getting a lot of shots off early. Senior midfielder Kyle Linhares had the Hoyas’ first dangerous chance of the game in the 22nd minute, when Fordham failed to clear a cross by junior midfielder Joe Buck. The rebound fell to Linhares just inside the penalty box, and he unleashed a powerful shot that hit the crossbar. Linhares’ shot was a sign of things to come for the Hoyas. Only four minutes later, junior defender Maximus Jennings rose above everyone else on a corner kick to head the ball past the Rams’ senior goalkeeper Alex Dolce.
Georgetown kept piling on the pressure after Jennings’ goal. In the 31st minute, sophomore forward Jacob Murrell’s shot was cleared off the line by the Fordham defense. The Hoyas doubled their lead in the 40th minute when junior defender Kieran Sargeant found space on the left wing and played a ball across the face of the goal. Dolce dove to try and intercept the cross, but he was unable to reach it, and the ball went right to Georgetown junior midfielder Cole Parete. Parete tapped the ball in to put the Hoyas up 2-0. Georgetown had a dominant performance in the first half, controlling possession and outshooting the Rams 12-5.
The second half started exactly as the first half ended–with attacking chances for Georgetown. In the 50th minute, Linhares sped past the Fordham back line to get a one-on-one chance against Fordham graduate goalkeeper Carter Abbott, who replaced Dolce for the second half. Abbott made a full-extension diving save down to his left, denying Linhares and parrying the ball out for a corner. Fordham could not clear their lines after that corner kick, though, and Linhares picked up the ball with space out on the right wing. He floated a cross up to the back post, where sophomore midfielder Zach Zengue was able to put the ball in the back of the net.
The Rams responded with their first goal of the game in the 52nd minute. Graduate defender Timo Hummrich crossed the ball to sophomore forward Andre Insalaco, who headed the ball into the goal. The Rams scored again in the 59th minute when Hummrich volleyed a shot into the top corner after the Hoyas failed to effectively clear the ball. After those two goals in quick succession, the Hoyas were able to hold on for a while. In the 71st minute, Jennings made a fantastic goal-line save to deny Fordham sophomore midfielder Daniel D’Ippolito. For a while, it looked like Jennings’ save would be enough to let the Hoyas hold on to the victory. However, with only ten seconds left on the clock, D’Ippolito scored a header to tie the game off a last-ditch cross from junior defender Jed Dixon.
Overall, Georgetown simply lost focus at key moments in the second half of the game. The Hoyas were the stronger team the whole first half, but they couldn’t play at their best for the whole 90 minutes.
In an interview with the Voice after the game, head coach Brian Wiese said, “The disappointment collectively is that we switched off at moments as a team and they made us pay–they only had a couple chances and they made us pay on them. Against good teams, if you switch off, they’ll punish you. And I think that was a good lesson for the guys today.”
Jennings told the Voice that he hoped the team would respond to today’s tough result by putting in a strong performance against Maryland (1-1-2, ACC) Friday. “We have a great test Friday, a great opportunity to bounce back and respond, and show how we can overcome adversity as a team.”
The Hoyas make the short trip up to College Park Maryland on Friday, Sept. 8 to face the No. 20 Maryland Terrapins. The game will be broadcast on B1G+. For continued coverage and updates on Georgetown sports, follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter.
