The Georgetown men’s soccer team (3-1-1) made the best of its Midwest swing by defeating Michigan State (1-4-0), 2-1, in double overtime Friday before tying the University of Michigan (1-4-1), 2-2, Sunday.

“Anytime you win on the road it’s a good thing,” Head Coach Brian Wiese said. “1-0-1 against two NCAA teams from the Big Ten is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Junior midfielder Ian Christianson knocked home the game winner on a free kick awarded in the 108th minute, after a chaotic scramble that saw a goal by sophomore midfielder Steve Neumann waved off.

On the restart, Christianson netted the game winner on a blast right over the wall of Spartan defenders into the top of the goal.

“The boys were extraordinary in the MSU game,” Wiesesaid. “There was so much going against them that was out of their control, and they handled it really well.  To not only survive, but to win on the road with everything going against you is a testament to the character of the team.”

The Hoyas were fortunate to make it to overtime. The Spartans had two penalty kicks late in regulation with the game tied at one, but were unable to capitalize on either. On the first attempt, freshman goalkeeper Tomas Gomez made a diving stop to deny Michigan State, while the second attempt went over the crossbar.

Earlier in the contest, the Blue and Gray grabbed the initial edge in the 27th minute off a corner kick by Neumann to freshman midfielder Tyler Rudy. The rookie found the back of the net for his first goal of the season and Georgetown career.

Michigan State knotted it up 10 minutes later, however, off a header by redshirt freshman defender Ryan Keener following a yellow card on Christianson.

In a match that was physical from the start, the Hoyas were penalized with five yellow cards to the Spartans’ three in the contest despite being fouled 27 times and committing only 18.

On the offensive front, both squads had 10 shots, with eight of the Blue and Gray’s attempts on goal compared to five by Michigan State.

The Hoyas finished their tour of Big Ten rivals Sunday, with a draw against the Wolverines that very well could have been a victory. A goal by Michigan junior midfielder Latif Alashe on a header in the 89thminute forced the match to overtime, where neither team managed to capitalize.

“The hard thing is how we left the Michigan game,” Wiese said. “We had it won and them tying it in the last minute left a sour taste for the boys.”

After neither team found the back of the net in the first half, junior midfielder Andy Riemer knocked in his first goal of the year on a header from a cross from junior defender Jimmy Nealis in the 50th minute.

Michigan sophomore forward Malcolm Miller answered just a minute later on a cross from sophomore midfielder Fabio Pereira.

In the 74th minute, Georgetown’s Neumann added his team-leading fourth goal of the season off a Michigan turnover.

“We’re getting goals from other sources and diversifying who is getting goals, but Steve is still our main threat,” Wiese added. “When you watch all of the games and what he’s doing, the poor kid scored two goals this weekend that were called back.  Getting other guys involved is important and I’d still like to generate more good goal scoring chances over the run of the game, but the soccer is getting better and better and taking shape.”

The Blue and Gray had 14 shots to Michigan’s 15, but both sides were able to only get three on the goal. The Hoyas also managed to attempt eight corner kicks to the Wolverines’ six, but only Michigan’s final goal resulted in a successful conversion.

Georgetown will be off for four days before traveling to Philadelphia to take on Penn Friday at 7 p.m. They will then host Princeton on North Kehoe at 3 p.m. this Sunday.