Six goals in its first two games translated into a 2-0 record, but the men’s soccer team (2-4-1, 0-1-0 Big East) is winless and has been outscored 12-4 in the five games since that undefeated start. The Hoyas dropped their first conference match of the season on Saturday at Cincinnati (3-2-2, 1-0-0 Big East), 2-0, on a pair of second-half goals.

“Looking at Cincinnati, it`s an incredibly difficult place to play and get a result,” Head Coach Brian Wiese said. “We outplayed them and did things well but didn’t get a result.”

Georgetown was disorganized early on Saturday night and allowed Cincinnati to dictate the pace of the game. The Bearcats outshot the Hoyas 5-2 in the first 45 minutes, and the visitors failed to test redshirt senior goalkeeper Matt Williams with a shot on goal prior to halftime.

Wiese pointed to unusual field conditions as a contributing factor to the Blue and Gray’s lack of offense. “The field turf is hard, the ball bounces a lot and it’s not a great venue for soccer,” he said.

Great venue or not, Cincinnati took advantage of its familiarity with the turf at Gettler Stadium and scored on a long counterattack in the 56th minute with the final tap-in coming off the foot of senior forward Nick Weightman. “We can’t give [opponents] chances to counterattack,” Wiese said in retrospect. “We need to be tighter in the back on counters. . We had possession most of the game, but they scored on a quick counter. We need to manage that better.”

Up 1-0 with less than 10 minutes remaining, the Bearcats remained aggressive. In the 84th minute with an assist from sophomore midfielder Dan Dwyer, Cincinnati junior midfielder Matt Bahner sealed the victory for the home side with his fourth goal of the 2010 campaign.

“We need to get back to getting shutouts and [taking] a defensive mentality first,” Wiese said. “We haven’t played easy games, so defense is important.”

But you can’t win games without scoring goals, either. Sophomore midfielder Ian Christianson and freshman midfielder Steve Neumann each had decent chances in the second half, but the Hoyas finished the game with only three shots on target.

At the end of the night, Wiese was pleased with his squad’s effort and said that he saw several things he liked out on the field. But at some point, especially now that the team has begun Big East play and September is coming to a close, effort and possession aren’t enough. The Hoyas need to start getting results again.

“We always say that winning is a habit and losing is a habit,” Wiese said. “The hardest thing about a habit is changing it, but we will work harder and have more resolve to turn the ship around. I have a huge amount of belief in the players and our experience.” While maintaining a positive outlook,

Wiese admits that he and the coaching staff need to hold themselves accountable for the team’s struggles over this three-week stretch. “As coaches, we take a lot of responsibility for this,” he said.

“Are we setting the boys up to succeed? That is a bigger factor than the boys not doing their jobs.”

Winless on the road, the Hoyas are hopeful that their return to the Hilltop on Wednesday night against Adelphi will give them an added spark and help them end this frustrating five-game spell.

“We’re excited about some home cooking after three weekends of travel,” Wiese said.

The Adelphi matchup is set for a 7 p.m. kickoff under the lights at MultiSport Facility on Wednesday and is Georgetown’s one and only home game scheduled at that venue.”