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Sophomore forward Chandler Diggs

Six Hoya seniors sang their swan song Saturday, ending the final game of the regular season against Marquette with a 4-2 victory.

In a fitting end to what had been a surprisingly hard-fought and frustrating match for the Hoyas, senior midfielder and co-captain Sean Bellomy sealed the win for the Blue and Gray with a goal in the dying minutes of play. The shot came after a skillful interchange between Bellomy and senior forward Peter Grasso, the latter of whom notched two assists in the game.

“How fitting is it that Sean Bellomy scores the game-winner, the one that really put a fork in the game,” Head Coach Brian Wiese said. “You couldn’t be happier for Sean, after the four years he’s had.”

The Hoya seniors all put in significant minutes into their last regular season game of the season, in front of a crowd filled by their parents and relatives.

Wiese declared Saturday’s match as midfielder Hunter Joslin’s career best game, and said it was unlucky that his two shots at goal did not make it past the keeper. Wiese also praised midfielders Corey Zeller and Alex Pangraze, the latter of who recorded an attempt on goal. Fifth-year senior Richard Diaz put in a solid display at right back according to the coach – Diaz’s performance was reminiscent of his early, pre-injury career when he was named Georgetown’s rookie of the year. Although Grasso did not score on Saturday, he finishes the regular season as the Hoyas’ top scorer, with six goals to his name.

The heightened emotion of Senior Day and the North Kehoe crowd translated into an aggressive start to the game by the Hoyas. Just four minutes after the starting whistle, Grasso fed sophomore right-winger Seth C’deBaca through a thin gap at the top of the 18-yard box, and C’deBaca did not spare a moment’s hesitation, ripping the ball into the top left corner of the goal for the Hoyas’ first score of the match.

“It felt good to score with my left foot,” the naturally right-footed C’deBaca said. “I just got the ball and played it to Pete, and he played a nice one-two with me and I hit it as hard as I could.”

The early score may have lulled the backline into a false sense of security, which resulted in an equalizer for the Golden Eagles just nine minutes later. The Marquette offense advanced toward sophomore keeper Matt Brutto’s goal and chanced a shot, which Brutto parried away with ease. While Brutto was still on the ground, sophomore midfielder Hector Navarro volleyed the ball into the back of the net completely unmarked.

The Hoyas fell a bit flat after their lead was neutralized, and it was not until the clock read 24:12 that the home team gave the crowd something to cheer about. Junior midfielder and co-captain Mark Zeman’s masterfully taken corner floated dangerously into the box, and 6-foot-2 sophomore defender Alex Verdi made use of his height to jump above the Golden Eagle defense and head the ball in for the Hoyas’ second goal of the match.

Ten minutes later, a mistake by the Marquette defense put the Hoyas up 3-1 – Marquette’s junior midfielder Billy Von Rueden faltered under pressure from the Hoya attack and kicked the ball into the back of the Marquette net for an own goal.

The scoreline remained intact until the middle of the second half, when Von Rueden made amends for his earlier mistake. The defender played in a corner kick that found the head of Navarro, who put it past Brutto for his second goal of the game.

The game looked shaky for the Blue and Gray until Bellomy’s decider put the game firmly away from the Golden Eagles’ reach.

“It was an interesting game,” Wiese said. “I thought it was a very flat performance for the guys, I thought it was very uneven. [Marquette is a] very competitive team, and they’re not going to just sit down and say, `Oh, we’re out of the tournament so you guys can take the win.'”

With the win, the Hoyas secured a third-place finish in the Big East Blue Division, earning a home game for the Big East tournament’s first game.

“You see a lot of real progress,” Wiese said, comparing this year’s team to the Hoya squads of the past. “It’s a credit to the seniors – they’ve been under the watch. They’ve gone from seventh place to fifth place and now to third place.”

The Big East tournament first round game is set to start at 2 p.m. Thursday at North Kehoe Field against the sixth seed in the Red Division, which has not finished regular season games yet.

“It could be Rutgers, Villanova, Cincinnati or DePaul,” Bellomy said. “Regardless of who we play, we’ll come out and play well. It’s nice to be able to play at home.”

If the Hoyas win in the first round, their chances of earning a bid to the NCAA tournament, a feat that has not been accomplished in a decade, will be high.

“One win [in the Big East tournament] might do it,” Bellomy said. “We’ve got a team that’s going to make a run for it.”

The NCAA draw will be announced Nov. 17.

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