Lucye Rafferty/The Hoya Georgetown sophomore defender Jeff Curtin strips the ball from Syracuse sophomore forward Jeff Evans during the Hoyas’ one-sided, 4-1 victory Saturday.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But what if it is? Then it probably follows that it should be fixed, and that appears to be what Georgetown’s men’s soccer team has done for the moment. After a string of disappointments caused by second-half power shortages, the Hoyas have lately come around right: after dismissing the Villanova Wildcats 2-0 last week, the team laid low the Syracuse Orangemen 4-1 on North Kehoe Field on Saturday.

“We made some changes against Villanova. We played a solid game against them and wanted to pick up on that,” head coach Keith Tabatznik said. “We also had the same lineup for both games, which is unusual for us.”

The wins have come at a crucial point in Georgetown’s season. After falling to 1-5-0 in the Big East, the Hoyas have garnered six points to launch themselves from the penultimate position in the conference standings to the ninth spot, just one point away from the number eight spot, the last berth in the postseason tournament.

Syracuse arrived at Georgetown on a sunny but cool and windy Saturday. The Orangemen, while not having the best season, had a knack for coming to a draw with some of the Big East best teams, including Seton Hall, Notre Dame and Rutgers. Georgetown, on the other hand, had struggled to take down conference opponents, even those considered beatable. Still, the Hoyas had the momentum of a solid win and the desire for revenge on a team that narrowly edged them last season.

“There’s not really much you can say at this point in the season to get you pumped. If you’re not up for a game already, you’ve got bigger problems,” junior forward Kaiser Chowdhry said.

Georgetown started out well, which has rarely been a problem in recent games. They controlled the tempo and created better scoring opportunities, including a hard kick from Chowdhry which was deflected at the top of the goal by sophomore goalkeeper Alim Karim, who sent it spiraling behind the top of the net. The subsequent corner kick also created a scoring chance, but Karim once again was there to stop the ball, this time with an impressive diving save. The Hoyas final big attempt of the early first half came three minutes later when sophomore defender Jeff Curtin took a penalty kick outside the box which ricocheted off the wall of Orangemen. Although Georgetown recovered the ball, the next shot soared wide.

Syracuse then woke up from its slumber, countering with an attack that led to a surprise kick from sophomore forward Jeff Evans that spun away from the defenders and past senior goalkeeper Tim Hogan into the right corner of the goal after 20:22. Freshman midfielder Frank Bruno was credited with the assist, the first of his college career.

Stunned by the reversal of fortune, Georgetown deflated, ceding control of the contest to Syracuse.

“The first half was pretty embarrassing. They completely killed us,” Chowdhry said.

A long pause in the action came in the 25th minute when a Syracuse player fell to the ground after being struck in the head by either the ball or another player. After the player remained on the ground for some time, the trainer and coach appeared until an ambulance could escort the player off the field, who apparently did not suffer any significant injuries.

After the long wait, the teams resumed play, but Georgetown could not regain momentum on offense and spent much of the remaining time trying to keep Syracuse from building on its lead.

“From the injury until the end of the half we didn’t play much soccer,” Tabatznik said.

Georgetown’s failure to generate any heat in the second half doomed it chances of pulling out wins against Providence and Pittsburgh; after fading quickly in the first half and dropping one goal, the Hoyas could not stand to remain idle for the next 45 minutes against Syracuse especially. However, in the opening minutes the Hoyas looked uninspired on the field.

Somehow, though, something clicked with the team. Maybe it was the realization that the season was drawing to a close and each win may help prolong their stay on the field later into November. Or they may have received a boost of confidence from their strong 90 minutes of play against Villanova earlier in the week. Either way, the Hoyas stepped up their play and turned the tide definitively in their favor.

“I think it has to do with the realization that if we don’t win, the seasons over,” Chowdhry said. “We came out with a different intensity and kept focused.”

“You have to run a whole hundred yards if you want to create attacks. I thought that was a key thing and [senior midfielder] David Eder came off the bench and gave us a little but of stability that we didn’t have before,” Tabatznik said.

In the 55th minute, junior forward Dan Gargan began the scoring bonanza with a low kick from the top right corner of the box that eluded Karim’s grasp and rolled into the left corner of the goal. Senior defender Carl Skanderup set up the play and sent the pass to Gargan that led to the goal.

With the game tied, the Hoyas searched for the go-ahead goal. In the 63rd minute, Georgetown sent the ball deep into its opponent’s territory where sophomore defender Dan Pydo struggled to gain possession of the ball alongside some Orangemen defenders. When Syracuse threatened to clear the ball, Pydo came up with an arching pass that seemed to bend and curl its way over the head of Karim to Chowdhry, who was able to knock it into the back of the goal to give Georgetown the lead, 2-1.

The Hoyas needed here to hold onto the lead, something that it has struggled with in recent past games. Somehow, though, after struggling to come back into the game and capture the lead, the team developed the tenacity to not only hold on to the victory, but to make a massacre out of it. Even though the Orangemen returned with a couple of counters that threatened to tie the game again, the Hoyas remained on top.

Chowdhry struck again on offense at 73:04, turning a cross from Gargan into a goal thanks to a spectacular header over the goalkeeper that put the ball into the corner of the goal. Chowdhry’s two goals come as a high point to the junior in a season that featured injuries and plenty of missed opportunities around the goal.

“I won’t lie. Goals are important to me as to any forward. I had been pretty unlucky all season; it pays off getting goals in a game that is very important to the whole team,” Chowdhry said.

Georgetown then used the cushion provided by the third goal not to slack off, but to attack more daringly. Freshman forward Ricky Schramm came up with the final goal, an indicator that his offensive drought that carried through much of the midseason may have finally ended. Schramm shrugged off two Syracuse defenders in the box before turning toward the goal and launching the ball into the corner of the goal, capping off the Georgetown victory 4-1.

“This is the way we like to see it: coming out and picking up the second half like we did. It obviously would have made a difference in a couple of other games we played,” Tabatznik said.

After two consecutive wins, the team’s collective spirit has raised. With nine points in the standings, the Hoyas can now battle the likes of Notre Dame and Boston College for one of the last conference tournament berths. Still, the remaining Big East matchups pit the squad against Seton Hall and Connecticut, two difficult opponents. But Georgetown has a week to prepare for their battle against Seton Hall upon on the Jersey Shore, and in the meantime the players can rest knowing that they have overcome some flaws before the toughest competition starts.

“We don’t even know if we control our own destiny, so we better control the part of things we can,” Tabatznik said.