Hoya Staff Writer Tuesday, September 12, 2006 Lindsay Anderson/The Hoya

Both of Georgetown’s games last weekend were played on North Kehoe Field against Big East opponents. But that’s about all the two matches had in common. Georgetown sophomore forward Richard Frank’s goal in the 105th minute gave Georgetown a 1-0 double-overtime win over Syracuse on Friday, but on Sunday, St. John’s scored two goals in the game’s first six minutes and went on to defeat the Hoyas 5-2. Georgetown is now 2-4-0 overall and 1-1-0 in Big East play. Friday’s game against Syracuse (3-2-0, 0-2-0) was Georgetown’s home opener and the first Big East conference game of the season for both teams. A total of 812 fans showed up to watch what turned out to be a defensive battle during which neither team was able to capitalize on scoring opportunities during regulation time. Georgetown came close to scoring in the game’s first minute off of a corner kick by sophomore midfielder Corey Zeller. After the ball bounced around in traffic in front of the goal, junior forward Mike Glaccum rifled a shot from 15 yards out, but it deflected off the leg of a Syracuse defender along the goal line. In the first half, the Orange took seven shots while the Hoyas managed only five. In the second half, however, Georgetown started to control the game, tallying 11 shots to Syracuse’s five. “The first half was tight,” Head Coach Brian Wiese said. “As the game wore on, I felt we were the team looking for the win. They were just starting to hang on as it got later and later.” Sophomore midfielder Conor Neusel nearly found the back of the net twice in the second half. In the game’s 48th minute, he took advantage of a gap in the Syracuse defense in the center of the field, but his shot from 16 yards out glanced off of the outstretched fingers of Syracuse goalkeeper Robert Cavicchia and went over the crossbar. In the 79th minute, Cavicchia was out of position when Neusel found himself in control of the ball near the left post. Neusel kicked a low shot that would have gone into the goal’s lower left corner, but Syracuse’s Brad Peetoom was able to block it along the goal line. The Hoyas kept the Syracuse defense busy in overtime, as they outshot the Orange 5-1. Georgetown finally scored five minutes into the second overtime on Frank’s perfectly placed shot from 24 yards out. With some space in front of him on the right side of the field, Frank buried the ball into the lower left corner of the net for his first goal of the season, clinching the Georgetown victory. “They were kind of sitting back a little bit, so I had some room and I shot it,” Frank said. Junior goalie Joe Devine made two saves in his first career start in a Big East game. He also made an acrobatic interception of a dangerous Syracuse corner kick in the 58th minute to preserve his second career shutout. “We’ve been on the losing end of some games when we’ve been away,” Devine said. “Now that we were home and had all these fans out, it was great. I think they helped us pull out the win.” Wiese credited Georgetown’s midfielders for helping to blank a Syracuse squad that had scored eight goals in its first three games of the season. “I think our midfield defending was much better than it has been all year,” Wiese said. “We talked about that this week and I think they executed it well.” Sunday’s game against St. John’s (4-2-0, 1-1-0), however, did not go as well for the Georgetown defense. For the fifth time in six games this season, the Hoyas fell behind early, as St. John’s wasted little time in building a 2-0 lead. Less than three minutes into the game, St. John’s senior defender Patrik Engstrom scored a stunning goal off of a direct kick from 20 yards out on the right wing. Although a crowd of Georgetown defenders stood in front of the goal, Engstrom was able to accurately loft the ball into the top left corner of the net. Less than three minutes later, Engstrom scored again on a header off of a St. John’s corner kick. In the game’s 10th minute, Neusel cut Georgetown’s deficit in half with a low line drive from 22 yards out on the left wing that went just inside the near post. Less than four minutes later, St. John’s responded with a goal by Jara Habib after the Hoyas were unable to clear across into the box by the Red Storm. Down 3-1, the Hoyas continued the offensive barrage with a spectacular goal in the 17th minute. After a Georgetown corner kick was deflected out of bounds by a St. John’s defender, Frank threw the ball in to senior midfielder Ben Jefferson-Dow who was running down the right sideline. Jefferson-Dow crossed the ball to the front of the box, finding senior forward Ricky Schramm who headed it in for his third goal of the season. An unassisted goal by St. John’s midfielder Jeff Stepan from 18 yards out in the 40th minute gave the Red Storm a 4-2 lead going into halftime. In the 69th minute, St. John’s forward Ryan Soroka put the Hoyas away with a goal from close range after the ball had ricocheted off the right post. “Up until the very end we never really thought they were on top of us,” Neusel said. “We just let up some easy goals, and we just couldn’t get ourselves out of it.”Both teams had a lot of chances,” St. John’s Head Coach Dave Masur said. “We were just fortunate that some of the balls went into the back of the net for us.” Despite the lopsided score, Wiese said he was not displeased with his team’s effort. “I always feel like this team will be able to come back,” Wiese said. “The challenge is to put ourselves in positions where we’re not coming from behind.” The Hoyas will look to score first in their next game, which will be on the road against Big East foe Villanova on Friday.