In a crucial conference matchup between the Georgetown University men’s soccer team (8-4-5, 5-2-1 Big East) and St. John’s University (7-5-5, 5-1-2 Big East), the Red Storm’s defense suffocated the Hoyas as St. John’s secured a 2-0 win.
The match, at St. John’s home field in Queens, N.Y., determined the winner of the Big East East Division; Georgetown entered the day atop the division with 16 points, a two-point lead on St. John’s and Providence College, but the Johnnies’ win handed them the division championship.
In a match where offensive momentum was difficult to capture, the Red Storm held the Hoyas to just four shots with only two on goal.
The first half of play saw both sides fail to muster any kind of offense. Neither team recorded a single shot, nor even a corner kick. Rather, the game descended into fouls, with Georgetown players committing four of the game’s first five and St. John’s midfielder Jackson Gould receiving a yellow card in the 31st minute. Georgetown made seven substitutions in the half, attempting to find some sort of synergy that could lead to the game’s first goal. Both teams would head back to their locker rooms searching for a way to break through.
Early in the second half, it seemed as though Georgetown was finding some offensive rhythm. The Hoyas recorded the game’s first two shots within two minutes of each other. After midfielders senior Blaine Mabie and sophomore Matty Helfrich reentered the match to begin the half, the offense generated chances for graduate forward Marlon Tabora and senior defender Maximus Jennings respectively. Neither shot was on goal, but it seemed like the momentum shift the Hoyas needed in the match.
Another two minutes passed until Georgetown took a corner kick. Although nothing came of it, the Hoya’s continued pressure from the St. John’s defense indicated that fans would not have to wait much longer for the match’s first goal.
But while the 0-0 tie was broken just three minutes later, it came off the foot of a Red Storm player. A foul by Mabie gave St. John’s forward Nigel Griffith a penalty kick opportunity, which he capitalized on to put the Red Storm up. From that point forward, St. John’s never looked back.
Just two minutes later, Griffith would strike again to double the Hoya deficit after assists from midfielders Augustine Boadi and Julian Jakopovic created the chance.
The St. John’s offense did not stop there, earning a corner kick within the next minute of play. This stretch prompted Georgetown Head Coach Brian Wiese to make five substitutions: Sophomore defender Oliver Stafford, junior midfielder Max Viera, senior midfielder Joe Buck, junior midfielder Zach Zengue and sophomore midfielder Matthew Van Horn all entered the game for the Hoyas.
The match’s next shot also came from St. John’s when defender Thomas Lamaille booted one toward the bottom left of the net before junior goalkeeper Tenzing Manske made the save.
Five minutes later, Georgetown would finally put a shot on goal, courtesy of Zengue. Red Storm goalkeeper Alec McLachlan made the stop in the bottom right corner of the net, but Georgetown had finally shown a reason not to count them out yet.
Though Georgetown had one last shot on goal through Jennings, McLachlan made another save, closing the book on the Georgetown offense for the day.
The two teams would trade corner kicks in the last five minutes of play, but Georgetown would go quietly into the night, failing to capitalize on their opportunities. With the win, the Red Storm leapfrogged the Hoyas to guarantee a share of the East Division crown, as Providence’s triumph over Xavier University tied the two squads at 17 points.
The loss and Providence’s win have considerable implications for Georgetown’s postseason. Had they won, Georgetown would have been the East Division champions and the second seed in the Big East Championship. This would have meant avoiding a potential matchup with West Division champions and first overall seed University of Akron until the finals.
Georgetown is now the four seed. For a team that received 11 of 12 East Division first-place votes in the preseason, the result is slightly frustrating, but the team’s disappointment with its third-place finish speaks to the high expectations of the historically dominant program.
Georgetown will next host the fifth-seeded Creighton University Bluejays on Nov. 9 in the first round of the Big East tournament –– a win could see them face Akron in the semifinals. Georgetown defeated Creighton in Omaha 1-0 Sept. 20 to open conference play.