GU Downs Seton Hall

The Georgetown men’s soccer team maintained its fifth-place standing in the Big East and qualified for its ninth consecutive conference tournament following its most crucial weekend to date this season. The Hoyas fell to Connecticut, 2-0 Friday, before earning arguably its biggest victory of the season Sunday, a 3-2 overtime win at longtime rival Seton Hall. With one final conference game against Boston College this Friday, the Hoyas are 5-4-1 in the Big East, landing them in a fifth-place tie with Rutgers. Georgetown’s overall record stands at 9-5-1.

On Sunday, junior forward Kenny Owens’ ninth and 10th goals helped launch the Hoyas towards a victory over Seton Hall and into the Big East tournament, which begins in two weeks. After a scoreless first half, the floodgates opened beginning with Owens’ first goal of the game two minutes into the second stanza. The Pirates tied the game minutes later when midfielder Brian Cuddy’s shot beat freshman goalkeeper Tim Hogan and found the upper-left corner of the net.

The game remained knotted at one goal apiece until freshman midfielder Greg Freeburg converted a pass from senior midfielder Khary Robinson into his fourth goal of the season. Freeburg ranks third on the team in scoring with nine points and is a goal shy of junior Nate Port’s 11 points.

The Hoyas were unable to hold their lead for more than six minutes, however, and the Pirates tied the game for the second time with just over 10 minutes to go when rookie forward Ingo Dittel knotted the game at two off a rebound from a direct kick. Dittel’s goal sent the teams into overtime.

Playing in their fifth overtime game of the season, the experienced Hoya squad wasted little time ending the game as Robinson collected his second assist of the game off Owens’ second goal, a header off of Robinson’s cross. Robinson now leads the Hoyas in assists with four, while Owens leads in goals with ten.

Hogan earned the win in goal in spite of a shaky defensive effort by the team, which allowed 18 shots. The win was Hogan’s fifth this season.

On Friday, the Hoyas saw their three-game winning streak snapped by a formidable opponent, the sixth-ranked Connecticut Huskies. Notorious for their stingy defense, the Huskies held the Hoyas to a season-low six shots. The Huskies themselves didn’t fare much better creating scoring opportunities for themselves as they mustered only nine shots, but two first half goals were all the Huskies needed to dismiss the Hoyas in front of their home crowd.

Georgetown’s final conference game this Friday against Boston College will determine its seed in the Big East tournament and whether or not it will play host to the first round quarterfinal game. Depending on how the end of the season unfolds for other conference teams, the Hoyas could find themselves seeded as high as third in the conference or as low as eighth. Nevertheless, a win over the Eagles will guarantee the Hoyas play at home for the first round while a loss guarantees they will travel.