Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

MEN’S SOCCER | Young Georgetown Squad Shows Promise in 2011

FILE PHOTO: CHRIS BIEN/THE HOYA Freshman midfielder Tom Skelly led all frreshmen with 10 points on the season, includiing three goals and four assists.
FILE PHOTO: CHRIS BIEN/THE HOYA Freshman midfielder Tom Skelly led all frreshmen with 10 points on the season, includiing three goals and four assists.

The Georgetown men’s soccer team may not have made it to the NCAA tournament this year, but the young squad can look back on the season with pride.The Hoyas spent most of the fall in the top 25 and earned a 10-5-4 record, one of their best ever, thanks to a 10-game unbeaten streak and seven shutouts.

The Hoyas had a bumpy start to the season after a one-goal overtime loss to Virginia Commonwealth in the season opener, but the squad quickly rebounded with a pair of victories over Radford and Stanford. Sophomore midfielder Steve Neumann made his mark early in the season, scoring all three goals in the two home wins.

Georgetown saw a lot of playing time in its first road swing of the season, ending all three games in double overtime. The extra minutes worked favorably against Michigan State as the squad downed the Spartans, 2-1. The games against Michigan and Penn proved more challenging, however, and theHoyas walked away with two draws.

Back home on North Kehoe Field, the team earned its third shutout of the season against Ivy League rival Princeton before downing Villanova, 2-0, in its first conference game of the year. The Hoyas went on to finish the season with a record of 5-3-1 in the Big East.

The Georgetown defense sparkled against No. 19 Penn State in the squad’s sixth overtime game of the season. Junior Tommy Muller was named Big East defender of the week for holding the NittanyLions to zero shots on goal, but the offense struggled to capitalize and the game ended in a scoreless draw.

The Hoyas opened play in October with yet another clean sheet against league opponent DePaul before defeating cross-town rival American, 2-1, under the lights in the squad’s second home night game in program history.

But the 10-game unbeaten streak came to an end in Morgantown, W.Va., as the Mountaineers handed the Hoyas their second loss of the season on Oct. 8. The squad hoped to start another win streak with its 3-1 victory over Seton Hall but suffered a tough loss to No. 12 Notre Dame just three days later in front of 1,200 people on Parents’ Weekend.

The Hoyas rebounded on the road to hand Marquette its first conference loss of the season. But with only two conference losses on their record this year, the Golden Eagles snagged Georgetown’s title of Blue Division regular season champions.

On Oct. 22 the squad faced off against its toughest opponent, No. 1 Connecticut. The Hoyas had several opportunities on goal after heading into double overtime, but the game once again ended in a scoreless tie.

Georgetown’s offensive skills recovered quickly, however, as a scoring frenzy led four different players to score in the team’s 6-2 victory over Pitt. The Hoyas finished up the regular season with a disappointing conference loss to Providence amid a wintry mix of rain, snow and sleet.

The one-goal loss to Providence would prevent the Hoyas from a second-place spot in the Big East, but a respectable conference record landed Georgetown the sixth seed in the league tournament.

The squad faced off against St. John’s in the first round of the tournament but dropped the decision, 2-1. The Red Storm went on to capture the Big East Championship and the ninth seed in the NCAA tournament.

Georgetown’s offense this season was led by Neumann, who finished with 29 points on 11 goals and seven assists, as well as three nods to the Big East weekly honor roll. He earned his second consecutive all-conference honor last week after being named first team all-Big East for his performance this season.

Junior midfielder Ian Christianson finished second on the team in scoring with one assist and six goals, including three game-winners. Christianson was named second team all-Big East last week. Classmate and co-midfielder Andy Riemer had five goals and three assists to place third in scoring.

Rookie midfielder Tom Skelly finished his first season on the Hilltop with 10 points on three goals and four assists, while classmate and defender Tyler Rudy added three goals and two assists to round out the top five. As a team, Georgetown finished second in the Big East in scoring with 17 goals and a 1.89 goals-per-game average.

The most impressive rookie performance this season came from goalkeeper Tomas Gomez. The freshman started in 17 games for the Hoyas, tallying 60 saves and seven shutouts. His performance in net earned him a nod to the Big East all-rookie team last week.

The loss of midfielders Ben Slingerland and Ibu Otegbeye and forward Uche Onyeador will prove significant for the Hoyas, but a young and talented group of players are ready to fill their shoes. And while Georgetown missed out on a bid to this year’s NCAA tournament, the team already has its sights set on next year’s success.

“We won’t miss a beat,” Head Coach Brian Wiese said. “We want to win the Big East. We want to get to Red Bull Arena for the Big East championship, and we want to go deep in the NCAA tournament. To stand back up and do it again for 2012, to see if we can hit all three of them — I think we’re very capable of it.”

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