Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Men’s Soccer | Shutout Loss Crushes Tourney Hopes

FILE+PHOTO%3A+JENNA+CHEN%2Fthe+hoya%0ASenior+forward+and+co-captain+Brett+Campbell+recorded+two+shots+on+goal+in+Saturday%E2%80%99s+loss+to+DePaul.+He+is+the+team+leader+in+goals%2C+with+three+this+season.+Campbell+has+started+in+all+twelve+games+for+the+Hoyas.
FILE PHOTO: JENNA CHEN/the hoya Senior forward and co-captain Brett Campbell recorded two shots on goal in Saturday’s loss to DePaul. He is the team leader in goals, with three this season. Campbell has started in all twelve games for the Hoyas.

The Georgetown men’s soccer team (3-8-1, 1-3-1 Big East) was shut out for the seventh time this season in a 1-0 loss Saturday afternoon to the DePaul Blue Demons (7-5-2, 2-3 Big East).

The game also marked the fifth time this season the Hoyas have fallen on the wrong end of a 1-0 score line.

The defeat eliminated any chance of the team defending its regular-season Big East Championship.

“They’re crushed right now. We knew going in that we had a chance to win the league if we won every game and didn’t have any slip-ups,” Georgetown Head Coach Brian Wiese said. “They lost the league today.  At the end of the day, in terms of defending our championship, that was lost today, and I think it’s a really frustrated group.”

This game played out in a manner similar to those of the team’s past losses. The Hoyas were not outplayed, and they perhaps even outplayed the Blue Demons for large sections of the match.

The ball was in DePaul’s half of the field for the majority of the opening minutes, and the Hoyas created chances — an aspect of the offense that has improved over past games.

However, one defensive lapse in the 15th minute was all it took for the momentum of the game to change.  Georgetown’s defense, which has performed well this season despite the team’s record, gave up a poor goal that ended with an open tap-in for DePaul senior forward Erik Rodriguez.

“Really bad goal. The back four was poor to be honest with you. It was a free delivery, really badly handled by the guys in the box, and it was an easy goal. It was one of the worst goals we conceded all year from our point of view, and disappointing because we talked about it as what DePaul’s good at. They deliver balls, they serve it in, and we made it pretty easy for them,” Wiese said.

One notable substitutions was when freshman forward Achara came onto the field in the first half. The speedy forward had shown some flair in his limited appearances but had not played in over a month.

“We’ve been waiting for him for over a month, so it was great to see him out there running around. He’s not 100 percent, but he’s building back up to it, and we’re really pleased with the amount of minutes we got out of him today,” Wiese said.

The rest of the half played out well for the Blue and Gray despite the goal, and the Hoyas entered halftime with 10 shots.

Georgetown opened the half with a lot of energy, relentlessly attacking. The offense passed the ball, creating plenty of scoring chances for the Hoyas. However, it was too difficult for the team to break down the Blue Demons’ defense, which packed it in during the second half.

While the Hoyas’ defense has played well and players still believe the offensive production will come, they were frustrated following the loss.

Still, the team holds a tireless belief that it can still make something of this season.

“We’re getting our chances but can’t finish them. Just the little details that are just kind of hurting us in the end,” sophomore goalkeeper J.T. Marcinkowski said. “I mean, we don’t have too much longer to figure it out, but once we do, we’ll go on a run. There’s still plenty of belief within the group.”

The team’s next two matches will be at home, with the first match being a midweek game against the Princeton Tigers (6-5-1, 0-2-1 Ivy League) in a nonconference match.

The game will take place at Shaw Field, and kickoff is set for Tuesday at 3 p.m.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

All The Hoya Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *