As the Georgetown men’s soccer team faces Providence College tomorrow, it will certainly be hungry for a win, having gone three games without a victory. Given the Friars’ overall record of 1-6-1, the Hoyas have a good chance of coming home satisfied.
The team has had the week off after experiencing a frustrating scoring drought against two Big East opponents over the weekend. The Hoyas tied Syracuse on Friday, 0-0, and failed to score again against St. John’s on Sunday in a 1-0 loss, lowering their overall record to 4-2-1 (1-1-1 in the Big East).
The tie against Syracuse was extremely disappointing for the Hoyas and Head Coach Keith Tabatznik, as they felt they were the superior team but didn’t play up to the their potential.
St. John’s, the fifth-ranked team in the nation, was unable to score against the Hoyas until they connected on a direct kick with less than three minutes left in the game. Tabatznik was pleased with his team’s effort against the Red Storm but disappointed that they didn’t take advantage of scoring opportunities.
Tabatznik said that the team has not been too discouraged by its recent losses.
“They’ve been fine mentally because we played very well against St. John’s, even though Syracuse was very disappointing,” Tabatznik said. “We need a win quite a bit. All three of our past games were very winnable. We need to go up there and find the back of the net a little bit.”
In a good week of practice, the Hoyas spent a lot of time improving their attacking skills. Improving scoring has been their main focus.
“It’s the final third of the field that we really need to smooth out,” Tabatznik said.
The team did spend some time working on defense, but that is not the main area in which they need development, as their recent defensive play has been exemplary.
“We held our opponents to one goal in two games, and usually when you do that you win,” Tabatznik said.
In order to beat Providence tomorrow, the Hoyas will have to successfully stop Friar fifth-year senior Kevin Jones, a 1999 All-Big East Second Team selection. Jones had eight goals and nine assists last season, and has two goals so far this fall. Tabatznik said Jones is “one of the better players in the conference. It’s very important to shut him down.”
The Hoyas will be looking for a big performance out of junior midfielder Kenny Owens, who has been a key player for the team this season. He leads the squad with 10 points on five goals. Junior forward Nate Port is second with four points on two goals.
“Providence College is a solid program despite their record. I expect big performances from everybody,” Tabatzanik said.
The Hoyas will face off against the Friars in Providence, R.I., tomorrow at 2 p.m.
