The Georgetown men’s soccer team appears poised for another successful season. The Big East Conference Preseason Coaches Poll unanimously voted Georgetown as the preseason favorite to win the conference. This result should come as no surprise, however, with the Hoyas entering this season as defending conference champions.

The Hoyas ended last season atop the Big East table with a 13-5-3 record for 81 total points. The squad managed a strong 6-2-1 conference record despite facing stiff in-conference competition, featuring strong opponents in Creighton, Providence and Marquette. Georgetown’s conference record was tied with Providence for second best out of the 10 teams, trailing only the Creighton Blue Jays, who paced the conference by going 7-1-1 in conference play.

Individuals Hoyas also caught the eyes of the conference coaches, with all three team captains voted to the All-Big East team. Notably, senior defender Dylan Nealis was chosen as the Big East Preseason Defensive Player of the Year and junior forward Derek Dodson was chosen as Big East Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. The third captain, joining Nealis and Dodson on the All-Big East team, is senior forward Achara.

Achara is a player to watch. In his final year on the Hilltop, the forward will be looking to improve upon his impressive seven-goal season in just 11 games last year. He was third on the team in goals, but four of those goals were game winners, showing his knack for finding the back of the net when it matters most. Achara was first in the conference in this decisive metric, and players and fans alike are eager to continue watching his in-game heroics.

Last season, the Hoyas were powered by their high volume offense. This attack led them to outscore their opponents 33 to 15 over the course of the entire season. This goal total was not due to luck, as evidenced by the Hoyas outshooting their opponents 369 to 230 — 17.6 to 11 per game — and landing 150 of those shots on goal, while their opponents were only able to muster up 92 shots on net. While the Hoyas did not land a significantly higher percentage of their shots on net — 40.7% to 40% — the volume enabled them to challenge opposing keepers on a regular basis and score 33 goals by doing so. Georgetown was also bolstered by its discipline, being shown 27 yellow cards to their opponents’ 34, while surrendering zero players during games to red cards. The Hoyas’ opposition was less responsible with red cards, leaving them with 10 men against a formidable Georgetown team on three separate occasions.

The preseason hype surrounding the Georgetown squad will be put to the test in the season home opener this Friday versus Syracuse at 4 p.m. The 13th-ranked Hoyas will face off against the unranked Syracuse Orange on Shaw Field.