Playing two soccer games in one weekend is always challenging.

Playing two conference matches in three days is even more demanding.

Traveling nearly 3,000 miles roundtrip to play those league games is exhausting.

And that is exactly what the Georgetown men’s soccer team had to do last weekend.

Traveling first to Chicago to face DePaul on Friday, then on to Tampa, Fla., to take on the University of South Florida on Sunday, the Hoyas were worn out by all the miles and the short rest. The Hoyas (4-2-0, 1-1-0 Big East) were able to secure a 4-3 win over the Blue Demons in overtime on Friday, but were dominated by the Bulls and fell 3-1 in the loss on Sunday.

“We are pretty happy with the weekend,” Associate Head Coach Jonathan Pascale said. “It was extremely difficult with all the travel involved . but I am proud of the way we played.”

In Chicago on Friday, Georgetown – ranked 21st in the nation by Soccer America magazine -opened conference play with a hard-fought 4-3 overtime victory over DePaul (2-2-2, 0-1-1). In the first Big East game for both teams, it was the Blue Demons who got on the board first with a goal from sophomore midfielder Jeff DeGroot in the 25th minute. Neither team had many scoring chances in the opening half and the game remained 1-0 at halftime.

After the intermission, however, the Hoyas came out firing and just two minutes into the second half, senior Benjamin Jefferson-Dow sent a shot into the upper corner of the goal to tie the game at 1-1. Determined to stay ahead, DePaul answered with a score from senior forward Luke Rojo less than two minutes later.

Play settled after the Blue Demon goal, but the Hoyas responded with goals on back-to-back possessions near the 70th minute of the match to take back the lead. Junior forward Ricky Schramm scored his first goal of the season when DePaul freshman keeper Brian Visser hesitated near the top of the box, which was followed by another goal from Jefferson-Dow – the Hoyas’ leading scorer – on a free kick after a Blue Demon foul just a few moments later.

With 20 minutes remaining, the Hoyas settled down to play defense and looked to hold the lead, but with just over five minutes remaining, DePaul sophomore midfielder Julian Chille was able to set up senior midfielder Adam Hermsen, who headed the ball home to tie the match and send play into overtime.

The extra period did not last long, however, as Schramm was again able to beat Visser and net his second goal of the day to get the Hoyas the win, 4-3.

“Georgetown has a very good program,” DePaul Head Coach Craig Blazer said. “They were able to keep us off balance, but we were able to put Georgetown under pressure and they had to deal with us for over 90 minutes. We are just disappointed with the end result.”

Down in Florida on Sunday, the Hoyas did not come away with such a favorable result. The Bulls (3-3-0, 2-0-0), coming off a win over No. 18 Seton Hall on Friday, outshot the Hoyas 23-5 on the afternoon and took home their second win in as many games, 3-1.

Freshman forward Jordan Seabrook put the Bulls up 1-0 in the 17th minute with a chip shot over Hoya junior keeper Andrew Keszler from 12 yards out. Twenty minutes later USF freshman defender Joris Claessens took a shot from 35 yards out that Keszler again could not get to, and the Bulls entered halftime with a 2-0 advantage.

The second half did not go much better for the Hoyas. Schramm was able to pull the Hoyas within one on a goal in the 47th minute when he put away a shot with an assist from junior midfielder Daniel Grasso, but that was as close as the Hoyas would get. Georgetown was more productive on offense – the team took four shots in the second period as opposed to just one in the opening half – but USF stepped up its play as well, and continued to dominate ball control and time of possession. In the 76th minute the Bulls iced the victory with another score from Claessens on a corner kick, and the game would finish 3-1.

“We would have liked to have played better,” Pascale said. “Fatigue was a factor, but we fought really hard and . it shows how important the players coming off the bench are. Those guys have been doing a great job for us and we knew it would be tough on the road.”

This weekend the Hoyas will again have two conference matches in three days, but will have the luxury of playing host to them on the Hilltop. On Friday, Georgetown faces Big East rival Villanova before taking on another traditional conference foe, Rutgers, on Sunday.

“Villanova and Rutgers are two of our biggest rivals in the conference,” Pascale said. “We are looking forward to playing them at home.”

Both games will be played on North Kehoe Field. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. on both days.