Georgetown Sinks Navy

The Georgetown men’s soccer team is gaining momentum, and it couldn’t be coming at a better time.

With a four-game stretch of Big East matches, the Hoyas have won three of their last four decisions following their 2-0 victory over Navy on Saturday. Additionally, Saturday’s triumph over the idshipmen marks the first time since their 4-0 start last month that the Hoyas have strung together a pair of wins.

The Hoyas’ recent momentum leaves them optimistic as they prepare for a strong finish in the conference.

“Psychologically, I think a win right now was really, really important,” Head Coach Keith Tabatznik said following his team’s shutout win. “This sets ourselves up to get rolling on a bit of a streak.”

The Hoyas put together a dominant effort over the South Atlantic Region’s fifth-ranked team, allowing Navy few legitimate scoring opportunities. Freshman goalkeeper Tim Hogan managed to turn away the few scoring chances that arose for the Midshipmen. Hogan, filling in for an injury-ridden Brian O’Hagan and playing in only his third collegiate game, earned his first career shutout with a five-save effort. Three games into his career, Hogan has yet to experience his first loss, and the freshman is quickly gaining confidence.

“The last couple of games, I’ve felt a lot more comfortable than I did the first time I played,” he said.

Hogan’s first game in goal this season was the Hoyas’ second of the season, in the championship game of the D.C. Challenge, which Georgetown won 2-1 over George Washington.

At the time, Tabatznik said he wanted to give Hogan some experience in case they needed to rely on him later in the season. When injuries began plaguing O’Hagan midway through the season, Tabatznik’s foresight paid off, as Hogan has led the Hoyas to their first back-to-back wins in nearly a month.

Despite his early-career success, Hogan is not taking his job for granted.

“I feel so fortunate,” Hogan said following the win over Navy. “I’ve been sitting for a while and just had to be patient and wait for the opportunity [to play].”

Hogan’s effort in goal was aided by a defensive unit that frustrated Navy’s offense throughout the game. Tabatznik attributed the shutout in large part to the Hoyas’ back three, which consists of juniors Mark Manning, Michael Gross and Peter Finn. Manning’s performance was especially impressive in the eyes of his coach.

“Right from the beginning, [Manning] really established his presence [on defense],” Tabatznik said.

On offense, the Hoyas were just as impressive, although they only had two goals to show for it. A spectacular nine-save effort by Midshipmen goalkeeper Brian Steckroth kept Navy in it until the Hoyas finally notched their second goal in the game’s waning minutes.

Junior forward Kenny Owens scored the only goal the Hoyas needed midway through the first half when the Hoyas were awarded a penalty kick as a result of a hand-ball in the goal box. The goal was Owens’ seventh of the season and his second game-winning score.

Following Owens’ goal, the Hoyas spent the remainder of the game looking for an insurance goal, but Steckroth thwarted shot after shot.

“The biggest reason why we didn’t put goal number two in [until the end of the game] was their goalkeeper,” Tabatznik said. “He was absolutely outstanding.”

With four minutes remaining in the game, freshmen midfielder Carl Skanderup and back Greg Freeburg fired consecutive shots that were each stopped by a diving Steckroth. Finally, on the ensuing play, junior forward Nate Port took a feed from senior midfielder Khary Robinson and deflected a shot off the post into the net for the Hoyas’ insurance goal.

Port noted that the Hoyas’ quest for their second goal of the game was rather frustrating considering the number of opportunities they gave themselves.

“I think that’s been the story of our year,” Port said. “But we worked at it and worked at it and pushed it until it happened.”

The Hoyas dropped into a tie for seventh in the Big East standings over the weekend due to their one-game hiatus from their grueling conference schedule, which resumes this afternoon against Notre Dame to be played at 3:30 p.m. on Harbin Field.

A win over the Irish will shoot the Hoyas back into fifth place, one point out of fourth, while a loss will severely jeopardize their postseason standing. The Irish have struggled with a 2-5 conference record this season but are coming off a stunning 1-0 upset win over first-place St. John’s.

The game, according to Tabatznik is critical for each team.

“This game has a lot of meaning,” he said. “[Notre Dame] will be fighting for their Big East lives, and we’re fighting for it still.”