Junior midfielder Bakie Goodman has started all 13 games this year. Goodman was the sixth-leading scorer for the Hoyas in 2014.
Junior midfielder Bakie Goodman has treated fans at Shaw Field to impressive displays of technical skill this season. He has blown past defenders, dribbled through entire opposing midfields and, in one of the highlights of the season, bounced the ball off another player while spinning in order to find space down the sideline for an attacking run. Goodman has always been good with the ball at his feet, but this season has included some standout moments.
“It’s always been a part of my game. It’s just maybe coming out a little bit more,” Goodman said. “Being more confident, and everyone has confidence in me to do those kinds of things.”
Goodman has good reason to be confident. He has started all 13 games this year, playing the full 90 minutes in the No. 9 Georgetown men’s soccer team’s (9-2-2, 5-0 Big East) most recent match, a 1-0 win over DePaul (3-11-0, 2-3 Big East). His one goal and one assist do not stand out on the stat sheet, but he has been an important piece of the offense from his outside midfield position all season.
The rest of the team will be confident in itself as well. It has won seven straight matches and nine of its last 10. It has been almost two months since the team’s last loss. In conference play, the Hoyas have outscored their opponents 8-0 over five games and are one of two teams with an undefeated conference record.
In the aftermath of their first win of the season, a number of Georgetown players stated that they did not want to drop a game for the rest of the season. On Sept. 7, that seemed unrealistic. Now, that goal is very much in sight.
“After the UCLA game, when we got our momentum back, we started talking about how we’re not going to lose another game the rest of the season. … Ever since then it’s been in the back of our minds. Keep going, stay undefeated, keep winning. I think that’s what is spurring us on,” Goodman said.
Next up for Georgetown is St. John’s (3-8-3, 1-2-2 Big East). The Red Storm has struggled this season, starting the year with five straight losses. The team’s three victories have come against teams that have a combined seven wins this season, while opponents have outscored it 18-11.
Junior midfielder Bakie Goodman has played in 56 out of 57 games in his career for the Hoyas. Goodman was a member of the Big East All-Rookie team his freshman year.
St. John’s is one of a handful of opponents in this stretch of Georgetown’s schedule who have not performed well this year. After the win over DePaul and the upcoming match against St. John’s, the team will return to Shaw Field to play Seton Hall (0-11-1, 0-5 Big East), which has lost all but one game this season. After a shocking road loss to Seton Hall last season, Head Coach Brian Wiese has not had to worry about keeping his players focused this year on teams that might be easy to overlook.
“The Seton Hall game from last year is all you need to remind them about,” Wiese said. “The players have a really healthy respect for every single team in the league. … This isn’t a game that anyone is looking past in the very least.
Of course, even a struggling opponent presents challenges. According to Wiese, that challenge will take the form of 6-foot-5-inch freshman forward Mike Prosuk. Prosuk leads the Red Storm in goals scored in 2015 and will look to end the Hoyas’ streak of five straight shutouts.
“That’s going to be the big one. I think it is just handling him in transition and handling them on set pieces. [Those are] the biggest things for St. John’s and how they are creating their goals right now,” Wiese said.
If the back line can halt Prosuk and his teammates and if the offense can produce on the road, then Georgetown has every chance of extending its winning streak. The team is in as good a form as any in the nation, and a victory Saturday means moving one step closer to a historic run through conference play.
