The No. 11 Georgetown University men’s soccer team (10-3-3, 6-0-1 Big East) blanked the Xavier University Musketeers (5-6-3, 1-4-2 Big East) Saturday, Nov. 1, spurred by a trio of goals by sophomore Hoyas.
Despite missing almost their entire starting back line to begin the match — and their entire starting back line by the end — the Hoyas were able to maintain their clean sheet and achieve their third consecutive 3-0 victory.
Georgetown set the tone early on and dominated in every statistic except saves — solely because Xavier did not get a shot up until well into the second half, despite having the conference’s second leading goal scorer. The Hoyas were missing four players from their starting line and an impact sub due to injury and illness; sophomore defender Jack Lindimore, junior midfielder Eric Howard, junior defender Oliver Stafford, junior midfielder Matthew Van Horn and senior midfielder Diego Letayf were all out of commission. The back four on the field had no experience playing together, but this was never evident as they allowed only 3 shots — with 1 shot being on goal — throughout the contest.
Against a team that was already out of contention for the Big East tournament, the Hoyas stormed off to an early lead, looking to secure 3 points and clinch the East Division. Georgetown sophomore forward Mitchell Baker sent up a powerful first shot of the day in the 7th minute that was skillfully parried with a leap by Xavier goalkeeper Jonny Mennell.
After an unsuccessful corner, senior midfielder Zach Zengue took a throw-in and sent the ball to sophomore midfielder Zayan Ahmed, who clipped the ball to the back post. There, an awaiting sophomore defender Tate Lampman — in his second game back from injury — headed the ball towards the goal. A final scrape past Baker saw the Hoyas soar into the lead 1-0 in only the 8th minute of play.
In the 12th minute, the Hoyas had another promising opportunity as senior midfielder Max Viera sent a looping ball to the back post to junior midfielder Mateo Ponce Ocampo. Ponce Ocampo sent the ball into the middle of the box though ultimately failed to connect with Zengue. Georgetown sent up 4 more shots before they found success again in the 32nd minute.
Zengue picked up the ball off a sophomore midfielder Aidan Godinho touch, maneuvered towards the left post, drawing in 4 defenders, before attempting a blocked pass across the box to Baker. The ball fell to Godinho, who, adding insult to injury, drove in a double nutmeg to put the Hoyas up 2-0.
In the 34th minute, the Hoyas looked to have another scoring opportunity in the form of a free kick, but Zengue drove the ball just wide of the near post. Zengue, who is currently tied for sixth in the country in goals and fourth in the country in total points, has not netted a goal in almost a month.
At the end of the first half, Georgetown had 8 shots — 4 on goal — to Xavier’s 0. The Hoyas had 6 corners to the Musketeers’ 1 and held 65 percent of the possession. Coming into the second half, not much changed.
Just two minutes into the second half, Ponce Ocampo received the ball just outside of the box and was able to bring the ball in. Ponce Ocampo sent the ball to sophomore forward Jordi Sada-Paz on the far post, who attempted a quick, blocked shot. Sada-Paz fired the rebound into the near post for his first career goal to close out a trio of sophomore stunners on senior day.
The 62nd minute finally saw Xavier send up a shot that narrowly missed the back post. Senior goalkeeper Tenzing Manske quickly stopped the subsequent corner. In the 64th minute, Xavier found their first — and only — shot on goal of the match in the form of a weak header, providing another easy catch for Manske.
Much of Georgetown’s power on defense, which kept Xavier to only 3 shots throughout the match, came from junior midfielder Matthew Helfrich — the remaining backline starter. Helfrich stepped into the place of Howard, dominating the right side of the field as the high outside back. Helfrich’s prowess came to an untimely end in the 76th minute, when he landed awkwardly on his outstretched right arm and was forced to leave the match in a sling.
Missing Helfrich, the Hoyas were able to continue their domination. Despite ample scoring opportunities — 9 more shots — Georgetown did not find another goal. Neither did Xavier, and the match ended with the Hoyas handily delivering Xavier a third consecutive 3-0 victory. Lampman was named Big East defensive player of the week and Baker was named to the Big East weekly honor roll for their efforts against Xavier.
Georgetown head coach Brian Wiese said he was proud of the team’s efforts and is looking forward to the postseason.
“Seeing guys step up for an injured teammate and playing well has just been hugely gratifying and a testament to the quality of the group at the moment,” Wiese told Georgetown Athletics. “Being the number one overall seed, especially in a year where the conference is as strong as it is right now, is something we don’t ever take for granted. So we’re pretty happy, and we’ve got to see out the rest of the season.”
The Georgetown offense is now ranked sixth in the country in goals per game with 2.44 and is tied for fourth in the country in most goals with 39. Despite having one game left in the regular season, the Hoyas have already secured the Big East regular season title and No. 1 seed in the Big East championship tournament. Georgetown will take on the Providence University Friars (6-6-2, 4-2-1) Friday Nov. 7 in Providence, R.I., at 7 p.m., where the Hoyas will look to close out the regular season with a bang before turning their attention towards the postseason.
