Five minutes may not sound like a long time. That’s because it isn’t. But in five minutes on Wednesday night, the Hoyas proved just how much can change in those 300 seconds.

Trailing 1-0 to Seton Hall (4-6-1, 1-4-1 Big East) in South Orange, N.J., with less than 15 minutes to go, Georgetown (7-3-1, 4-2 Big East) looked like it may suffer its second straight Big East defeat after losing at Connecticut over the weekend.

“At the end of a game like that you’re just hoping you don’t run out of time,” Head Coach Brian Wiese said. “I remember looking up at the clock and thinking, `Man, this game is flying by.’ When you’re losing, that tends to happen.”

The Hoyas mounted their first successful comeback effort of the year, scoring goals in the 77th and 82nd minutes to stun the Pirates, 2-1.

Early on, Wiese and the Hoyas got exactly what they expected from the Pirates: A relentless offensive

attack. In what Wiese predicted to be a “Wild West shootout” earlier in the week, the two teams combined for 35 shots. In the first half, however, Seton Hall was the only side contributing a significant tally to that total as they outshot Georgetown 12-3.

The Hoyas conceded the first goal of the contest in the 29th minute on a Pirate corner as junior defender Kurt Cameron put the home team on top, heading it past junior goalkeeper Matthew Brutto. After the goal, Georgetown failed to produce much in the way of a response, mustering only one shot on goal.

“If you had watched the game you would have seen two different teams in the first half [compared to] the second half,” junior forward Jose Colchao said. “In the first half we were yelling at each other and not getting into a flow. . At half time we were all upset with each other.”

Fortunately for the Hoyas, they truly were a different squad in the second half. The stat line took a Blue and Gray turn after the break as Georgetown put up 15 shots to Seton Hall’s five, but as Wiese said, “Chances don’t necessarily mean results in this game.”

Despite their offensive turnaround, the Hoyas still found themselves scoreless when freshman midfielder Andy Riemer entered as a substitute in the 68th minute.

“Andy is a super-sub,” Wiese said. “He hasn’t always performed the same role for us, but whatever his assignment is, he always nods his head and goes out and does the job.”

Wednesday night, Riemer’s job was to get the Hoyas on the scoreboard, and he did just that in the 77th minute. Senior midfielder Scott Larrabee swung a cross into the box, and with a golden one-touch finish into the upper corner, Riemer leveled the match.

“I was really happy that I was able to make an impact when I got on the field,” Riemer said. “We were able to get some quality shots on goal and mine just happened to go in.”

After scoring a late equalizer, many teams would have been satisfied to sit back and play for the tie,

but the Hoyas continued to press for a second goal.

“There was no sense of pride as if we’d done the job at 1-1,” Wiese said. “There was a universal feeling that we were going to go after the second goal. The boys kept their foot on the accelerator and

took advantage of their momentum.”

Just five minutes after Riemer’s strike, the Hoyas converted again. Freshman midfielder Tommy Muller booted a cross from the right side into Colchao’s path in the 82nd minute, and Colchao did the rest.

“I didn’t even have to jump,” he said. “I just moved a little towards it, and it went to the back of the net.”

It was smooth sailing for the Hoyas from that point as they held on to secure the three points.

“How we won was critical,” Wiese said. “If we make a postseason run, we’re going to be in this situation again. . Overall, it was gratifying and important for our goals.”

The Hoyas’ comeback kept them in line with the other three squads at the top of the Big East’s Blue Division: Notre Dame, West Virginia and Connecticut.

“It seems to be a four-team race at the moment,” Wiese said. “This win keeps us on par with the other three teams at the top, but it’s going to start filtering out even more soon.”

As for Georgetown’s next conference challenge, they return home to North Kehoe Field over the weekend to take on the Pittsburgh Panthers.

“They look good,” Wiese said. “Their record is deceiving. . [Pittsburgh] just tied a very good West Virginia team, and we have to be on our toes on Saturday.”

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