Six. Five. Four. The public address announcer on North Kehoe Field counts down the final few seconds of the 110 minutes played today between the Georgetown and Connecticut. The Hoyas are making one last push for a goal in the second overtime.
Three. Two. One. A Georgetown cross finds sophomore forward Jose Colchao in the middle of the Huskies’ box. Colchao takes a shot – the Hoyas’ 20th attempt of the day.
Zero. The homecoming crowd lets out a collective groan as Colchao’s shot goes wide.
Georgetown created numerous scoring chances this afternoon but could not put away a goal, as it played Connecticut to a 0-0 tie. The Hoyas (7-2-3, 2-2-3 Big East) are now one point out of first-place in the Big East Blue Division, while the 13th-ranked Huskies (5-3-4, 3-3-1) moved into a three-way tie for first place. Notre Dame, also in first, plays tonight.
“I thought we had a good performance against one of the best teams in the country,” Head Coach Brian Wiese said. “I’m proud of the guys, because we were the team that was trying to win it at the end – it was chance after chance in the last 10 minutes.”
The Hoyas earned 13 corner kicks to the Huskies’ five, including a 5-0 edge in the two overtime periods. Georgetown also outshot Connecticut 20-13.
One of Georgetown’s best chances came with just under 20 minutes to go in regulation. Junior defender Mark Zeman ripped a free kick from 30 yards out that goalkeeper Josh Ford knocked away from goal. Hoya sophomore midfielder Rob Burnett got his head on the rebound but put the ball over the net.
With under three minutes to play, senior midfielder Corey Zeller took a shot from the top of the box. Zeller’s attempt hit off of the post.
“I think it was just bad luck,” Burnett said of the Hoyas’ inability to convert on scoring chances. “We had about four or five good chances toward the end, but we couldn’t finish them.”
The Georgetown defense played well against the reigning national player of the year in senior forward O’Brian White. Central defenders junior Len Coleman and sophomore Alex Verdi marked White throughout the match.
“I thought Verdi and Coleman shut down O’Brian White, as much as you can,” Wiese said. “He’s a top-class player. He’s going to be one of the top, if not the top, pick in the MLS draft.”
Sophomore goalkeeper Matt Brutto continued his streak of shutouts, earning his sixth of the season. Brutto has not allowed a goal all year.
“If you look at the statistics, he can’t get much better,” Wiese said of Brutto. “He makes you feel calm – he handles crosses well, he kicks well, he organizes well.”
Wiese attributed the Huskies’ low number of shots on goal (three) to Brutto’s ability to organize the Hoyas’ defense and disrupt scoring chances before they start.
The goalkeeper got some help from Coleman in the 78th minute. The Huskies had an open shot from 10 yards out, and Coleman made a sliding block to keep the ball away from the goal.
A year ago, Georgetown entered overtime against then-No. 4 Connecticut in a scoreless tie, but it was the Huskies who controlled the game. Connecticut outshot Georgetown 16-1 and scored seven minutes into overtime.
“Last year we held on to get to overtime and would have been lucky to win,” Wiese said. “But this year was a completely different game.”
The game is the Hoyas third straight draw and fourth game in a row that has been tied at the end of regulation.
“We’ve got to start figuring out how to get three points [for a win] in the league or else we’re going to be left behind,” Wiese said.
Next up for Georgetown is a non-conference game at American on Tuesday.
“We can’t get cocky playing American,” Burnett said. “We’re going to try and stay humble and take it to them.”
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