Georgetown men’s soccer (4-1-2) faced the best of the Ivy League last weekend, holding their own against two strong rivals. The Hoyas tied Penn (2-2-1) 1-1 in Philadelphia on Friday and downed Princeton (1-3-1) 3-0 on North Kehoe on Sunday.

Georgetown’s goalkeeping shined over the weekend when sophomore Keon Parsa and freshman Tomas Gomez combined for 18 saves and only allowed one goal.

Sharp goalkeeping and defense were certainly needed on Friday evening against Penn as Georgetown had to battle through two overtime periods in order to salvage a 1-1 tie.

The Blue and Gray took the lead in the 74th minute after a Quaker foul that resulted in a red card for the hosts. Following the foul, junior forward Andy Riemer passed the ball to freshman forward Austin Martz, who returned the ball to Riemer in the box. Riemer slotted the ball inside the right post of the goal and passed the goalkeeper for the first goal of the game.

Only five minutes later, though, the Quakers responded with a goal of their own. A handball in the box off of a Penn corner gave the Quakers a penalty kick, which Penn’s senior forward Christian Barreiroconverted to tie the game at one. “To Penn’s credit, they handled the situation really well,” Head Coach Brian Wiese said. “To our detriment, we didn’t. We ended up defending and were under a lot ofpressure.”

Despite being down a man, Penn continued to create chance after chance toward the end of regulation and in overtime. The Quakers outshot the Hoyas 8-2 in the extra periods and 14-6 overall in the second half. Fortunately, Parsa and a strong Georgetown defense were able to deny Penn the game winner.Parsa racked up six saves in extra time, which brought his total to 13 for the evening.

“Parsa was absolutely tremendous,” Wiese said of his sophomore goalie. “He may be man of match for us because of his performance in overtime.”

Even with Penn’s incredible pressure, Georgetown was still level with Penn when the whistle blew.

“We are very lucky to not come away with a loss in that one, because of how that game went,” Wiesesaid. “Penn was a good learning experience for us on the road.”

Returning to North Kehoe Field on Sunday, the Hoyas returned to their winning ways with a convincing 3-0 win over Princeton. Junior midfielder Ian Christianson was the star of the show, bagging a brace by converting two penalty kicks.

Once again, Georgetown went ahead first, but the Blue and Gray were able to maintain their lead this time around. Each side had goal opportunities in the first few minutes of the game, but it was not until the 25th minute that the deadlock was broken.

Off a corner kick, senior defender Ben Slingerland headed the ball to sophomore forward Steve Neumann, who was waiting in front of the goal. Neumann’s ensuing bicycle kick hit a Princeton defender’s arm, earning the Hoyas a penalty kick. Christianson calmly stepped up to the spot and his shot to the keeper’s right side was deflected but still ended up in the back of the net, giving the Blue and Gray the lead.

Princeton nearly tied the game with just three seconds left in the half, only to be denied by a sprawling Gomez.

“I saw it take a deflection and going wide so I had to shuffle and stuck my arm out,” Gomez said.

Gomez continued to thwart the Tigers as the visitors sharpened their game in the second half. In the 58th minute, the freshman keeper batted away a header from close range and then battled two Princeton attackers to gain possession of the ball. Gomez would finish the game with six saves and his third shutout of the season.

“Tomas [Gomez] was critical again today in goal for us,” Wiese said. “He made some great saves in critical moments in the game.”

The Hoyas increased their lead in the 78th minute as a result of a beautiful passing sequence set up freshman defender Tyler Rudy, who fired home from the top of the box. Christianson started the move by carrying the ball up the left side of the field before finding Neumann on the other side of the field. Neumann then laid the ball off to Rudy at the edge of the 18-yard box and the freshman slotted the ball past Princeton junior goalie Max Gallin and just inside the left post.

Not satisfied with a 2-0 advantage, Georgetown would go three goals ahead only seven minutes later. A through ball gave sophomore forward Gabe Padilla a one-on-one breakaway with only Gallin to beat. As Padilla attempted to get around Gallin, the Princeton keeper took out Padilla’s legs, resulting in Georgetown’s second penalty kick of the game. Christianson scored again, this time shooting the ball right down the middle of the net.

“First penalty shot I kind of hit it in my usual spot,” Christianson said. “Second one, I knew he was going to move so I just put it right down the middle.”

The game would end 3-0 even though Princeton outshot Georgetown 14-11.

“If you looked at the run of the game, I think the scoreline flattered us,” Wiese said. “We did what we needed to do to win the game.”

Georgetown opens up Big East conference play on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Villanova.

“It is going to be one of those games where we are going to have to find a way to get a result,” Wiese said. “If we can get a result out there it’s going to be a great start to league play.”