The Georgetown men’s soccer team suffered through a disappointing weekend, gaining only one point in the Big East standings over the course of two conference games. The Hoyas battled to a scoreless tie against Syracuse last Friday, before falling to St. John’s 1-0 on Sunday. Georgetown’s overall record slips to 4-2-1 (1-1-1 Big East).
The Hoyas’ major problem over the weekend proved to be their inability to score. After scoring at least two goals in each of their previous four games, the Hoyas failed to put the ball in the net once in 210 minutes of soccer throughout the weekend.
“Not often will Georgetown ever get shut out two times in a row,” Head Coach Keith Tabatznik said, following the loss to St. John’s.
Despite the loss to St. John’s, Tabatznik felt his team played well against the nation’s fifth-ranked team, maintaining a scoreless tie until less than three minutes remaining in regulation, when the Red Storm’s Rich Bradley scored the game’s only goal off a direct kick pass from teammate Jeff atteo.
“We played a great game,” Tabatznik said. “The difference is we didn’t make the big play . We had a couple brilliant opportunities to put us up 1-0, and we didn’t do it.”
The Hoyas’ most notable scoring opportunity of the game came midway through the second half when junior forward Kenny Owens was left wide open in front of the left goal post. Owens received a nice feed, but his shot soared over the net, leaving the game scoreless.
Despite the Hoyas’ scoring opportunities, the Red Storm held the upper hand throughout the game, outshooting the Hoyas 14-8, while holding a 6-4 advantage in corner kicks.
Sophomore goalkeeper Brian O’Hagan played perhaps the best game of his short career so far, keeping the Hoyas in the game until the final minutes with several huge saves. O’Hagan thwarted a breakaway opportunity earlier in the game by leaving the net and charging the attacker. He finished the day with seven saves.
“I thought [O’Hagan] did his job,” Tabatznik said of his goalkeeper.
On Friday, the Hoyas played an inferior Syracuse squad to a 0-0 tie, a major disappointment, according to Tabatznik.
“I thought we were a much better team,” he said, “[But] I thought we played extremely poorly.”
Despite playing poorly, the Hoyas dominated the game from start to finish, firing 19 shots against the Orangemen, while holding a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks.
The star of the game, however, was Syracuse goalkeeper Kevin Bacher, who lived up to his reputation as the Big East’s preseason Goalkeeper of the Year with his second shutout of the season, a 10-save effort.
Across the field, O’Hagan did what he had to do to record his second shutout of the year as well with a three-save effort.
The Hoyas look to put an end to their three-game winless streak this Saturday when they travel to Rhode Island to square off against a struggling Providence team. The Friars have won only once this season in eight games and are currently 1-3-1 in the Big East.
Related Links
Men’s Soccer Schedule
Men’s Soccer Roster
