COLLEGE PARK, Md. – To be the best, you must beat the best.

That was the idea at least, as the Georgetown men’s soccer team headed into the Maryland/Adidas Classic this past weekend.

The best teams were on hand with Georgetown sharing the marquee with No. 2 St. John’s, No. 3 Maryland and No. 14 Penn State. But no matter how hard they tried, the Hoyas could not beat their vaunted competition, falling 3-2 to the Penn State Nittany Lions (1-0-3) in double overtime and 4-2 in a tight matchup with the host Terrapins (4-0-0).

“We obviously have to get some results out of these top teams if we want to play in the [NCAA] tournament later, but these games should make us a lot better as the road goes on,” Georgetown Head Coach Keith Tabatznik said.

Trying to rebound from a disheartening 2-1 overtime loss to American to lose the D.C. College Cup last Monday, Georgetown took the field against a tougher opponent with more focus.

The Hoyas came together to take the lead early in the game as senior midfielder Trevor Goodrich made a pass downfield to sophomore forward Daniel Grasso. Grasso knocked the ball to fellow sophomore forward Ricky Schramm, surging through a hole in the Penn State defense. Schramm scored in the 10th minute off a one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

Penn State struck back 16 minutes later when a shot ricocheted back to freshman midfielder Richard Costanzo, who passed it to senior forward Chad Severs. Severs’ sliding kick evaded capture by Georgetown’s goalkeeper, tying the score. While sophomore forward Simon Omekanda nearly knocked in the go-ahead goal at the end of the first half, he had to wait until five minutes into the second half to put it away, sending the ball right between the goalkeeper’s legs.

The Hoyas rallied in the 67th minute when senior Brent Plumley made the assist to Grasso, who came up with the equalizer. The team then struggled to keep the Nittany Lions at bay, eventually forcing overtime with the score tied at 2-2.

While Schramm almost gave the game to the Hoyas, the opposing goalkeeper made a save to keep the Nittany Lions alive. Neither team could get an advantage throughout the first overtime, but Penn State came through early in the second overtime period. Severs closed the game with a one-timer off Omekanda’s cross, handing Georgetown its second consecutive overtime loss.

“I think Friday night was heartbreaking, but they know they played really well,” Tabatznik said.

Penn State outshot Georgetown 17-11, pouring on 11 shots in a late second half rush. Hoya sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Keszler, racking up experience with over 100 minutes between the pipes in this game, made three saves. Grasso and Schramm buoyed the offense with a combined seven shots.

Looking to avenge a close 3-2 loss to Maryland last year, Georgetown took the field on Sunday afternoon ready for an upset. For a while the team looked close to achieving that goal. The Hoyas attacked from the beginning, dominating possession. The team was rewarded with an early goal as Goodrich crossed the ball to Schramm, who headed the ball into the net from three yards out 9:06 into the game.

“We could keep possession and we were going to have confidence in ourselves,” Tabatznik said, explaining the game plan. “I think it’s clear we did. I thought that the first half was split into two halves. We had the first part of it.”

Georgetown kept the momentum for 10 minutes more before beginning to slip before a sharp and relentless Maryland offense, which stunned No. 2 St. John’s 5-2 earlier in the weekend. Senior forward Abe Thompson, an offensive ace and one of the best attackers in the nation, leveled the score by beating a defender and kicking the ball past the reach of Keszler early in the 28th minute.

Ten minutes later, the Terps’ other scoring star, junior forward Jason Garey, revved into gear by knocking in the second goal in the midst of a scramble in the box after a corner kick. aryland kept the ball in its possession, but failed to convert during the last minutes of the first half.

“After the first 20 minutes we started to take over the game and started to do things a little bit better,” Maryland Head Coach Sasho Cirovski explained.

The Terrapins looked to put the Hoyas away at the start of the second half. Junior defender Kenney Bertz launched a throw-in deep into the far corner of the box where another junior defender, Chris Lancos, took an open shot only five minutes into the period. With the score at 3-1, Maryland looked to cruise to a win.

“You saw the benefits of having guys like Abe Thompson and Jason Garey and some of the explosive guys that can help create some stuff,” Cirovski said. “And you saw the advantage of having guys that can give you a chance off a throw-in.”

Georgetown refused to give in, however, and put together a charge that resulted in some scoring opportunities. The breakthrough came in the 56th minute when Schramm steadied Goodrich’s corner kick and blasted the ball into the top corner of the goal. The Hoyas looked poised to even the game, but a red card issued to senior midfielder Kevin Sindelar in the 67th minute shook the team and left Georgetown a man down on the field.

A little over a minute later, Maryland secured the win when Lancos fed the ball to Garey. Garey, running almost off the field, finally dished the ball past Keszler at an incredibly steep angle. Georgetown could not recover and finished with a 4-2 loss.

“We have a history with Georgetown. They always play us tough and they are very inspired, and last year they scored two goals as well,” Cirovski said. “I think Georgetown deserves a lot of credit, coming out with a game plan and also playing well.”

The Terps dominated the stats, outshooting the Hoyas 21-6. Georgetown, however, made the most of each shot, scoring on two of them – including its solitary shot of the second half. Keszler, despite being mercilessly heckled by Maryland’s fans, “The Crew,” still managed to record six impressive saves. Schramm took three shots during the game, two of which scored, and landed on the all-tournament team along with Grasso.

The Hoyas hope to snap a three-game losing streak that dropped them to 2-3-0 for the season with a win against the Towson Tigers at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Maryland.

“I hope the team has a healthy focus on just playing onto the next game. [Towson] is a much better team than it was a year ago,” Tabatznik said. “The biggest challenge . is to make sure that we respect the fact that Towson is a good team.”