Stumbling Hoyas Lose Again

The proverbial wind is blowing against the Georgetown men’s soccer team, and as Head Coach Brian Wiese sees it, one of two things will happen.

“You’ll either fall over with the wind, or you’ll dig your heels in and lean against it,” he said. “We have to lean against the wind right now.”

After the Hoyas’ 3-1 loss to American University this past Wednesday at North Kehoe Field, that wind is a little stronger. Even while missing several usual starters due to injuries and card accumulations, the Hoyas (9-7-1, 6-4 Big East) were able to grab an early 1-0 lead, but the Blue and Gray fell to the Eagles (9-3-2, 4-1-0 Patriot League) after allowing three unanswered goals.

“We’re frustrated, to be honest,” Wiese said after the game. “There’s no reason to have lost this game. They’re not a better team than us.”

Early in the first half, Georgetown showed why Wiese may be right. In the 19th minute, junior midfielder Ibu Otegbeye took a long throw-in near the attacking corner flag and found freshman midfielder Andy Riemer in the 18-yard box. Riemer headed the ball on across the frame of the goal to his classmate, midfielder Jimmy Nealis, who settled, turned and fired the ball past American sophomore goalkeeper Matt Makowski to put the Hoyas on top.

It didn’t take long for the Eagles to rebound, however, as they found the equalizer nine minutes later when senior defender Karsten Smith headed the ball into the top right corner at the back post on an American corner kick. Only four minutes after tying the score, junior forward Mike Worden put the Eagles in front when a miscommunication between junior goalkeeper Mark Wilber and junior defender Alex Verdi left Worden to shoot on an empty net; Wilber’s attempted clearance at the top of the box redirected off Verdi and right to Worden’s feet.

After the match, Wilber took responsibility for his miscue.

“I just didn’t make the right decision [on the second goal],” he said. “I didn’t make a couple of plays I needed to make and that ended up being the difference in the game. The team did what it needed to do.”

The two American goals mark the fifth time in the Hoyas’ last seven contests that they have conceded between the 26th and 32nd minutes. For now, without any tangible explanation for this trend, Wiese refers to it as the team’s “Bermuda Triangle.”

Reeling at half time, Georgetown hoped to collect itself in time to salvage at least one point from the match, but American continued to stymie every offensive attack the home side threw at it. Eight minutes in, the Eagles prompted a few Hoyas fans to head for the exits when senior forward Nidhal Charfi scored from the right side of the 6-yard box to make it a 3-1 American advantage.

“The third goal was maybe the one goal they deserved,” Wilber said. “They played well and they were dangerous up front. They earned that goal.”

With almost 40 minutes left to play, the Hoyas knew there was time to come back, but the combination of a stiff Eagles defense and a sloppy field made that task more difficult than usual. Due to heavy rains and a long season of men’s and women’s soccer games, North Kehoe Field did not allow for much traction on Wednesday and caused several players on each team to slip and fall throughout the match.

“[The field] was a pain,” junior forward Jose Colchao said. “Any really tight turn, you ended up on the ground.”

Wiese also acknowledged the poor conditions, but refused to attribute any of the Hoyas’ struggles to the playing surface.

“It made it tougher to play, but both teams are running on the same field,” he said. “I don’t think the outcome was changed by the field.”

The outcome almost was changed by a pair of late Georgetown scoring chances, but both Colchao’s 81st-minute shot off the crossbar and senior midfielder Scott Larrabee’s 87th-minute header off the right post ricocheted away from goal. When time ran out, the 3-1 score line stood, and the Hoyas were left looking for answers.

“I thought we played well,” senior captain and defender Mark Zeman said. “We just gave up a few uncharacteristic goals. … [That] usually doesn’t happen, but sometimes that’s how it goes.”

With only one regular season game remaining on their schedule, the Hoyas feel that even with their loss to American, they have shown their ability to compete with the nation’s best.

“No one’s very happy right now,” Colchao said. “But we know we’ve played all the better teams in the Big East. … We feel like we’ve done well and we know we can play with them. We honestly think we can make a run.”

If the Hoyas are to make that run, it will begin on Saturday at home against Providence in their final regular season match before the start of the Big East tournament. The Hoyas have clinched a home game for the first round which begins next Wednesday, but they will not be sure of their opponent until after Saturday’s results.

“At the end of the day, we control our own destiny,” Wiese said. “This team — of all the teams I’ve had here — is most capable of going on a run in the Big East tournament and maybe even winning it.”

The team captain echoed his coach’s optimism.

“We’re just going to go out there and battle, fight and put in 100 percent,” Zeman said. “The soccer game should take care of itself. I think we’ll be fine.”