Stephanie Navarro/The Hoya Sophomore midfielder Kevin Sindelar aids in Georgetown’s win over Notre Dame.
A last-minute goal from freshman defender Jeff Curtin lifted the Hoyas past 11th-ranked Notre Dame in a thrilling 3-2 victory last Saturday. This win keeps the Georgetown men’s soccer team’s hopes for a Big East tournament berth alive.
Despite the muddy field conditions, the Hoyas gave one of their best contests on North Kehoe Field while 384 fans endured the windy and cool weather. Strong offensive play by both teams earned each a number of goal attempts, offering much excitement for the spectators.
“It was probably the best game of the year, period. End to end, in terms of play, there’s no question that this was our best,” Head Coach Keith Tabatznik said.
The Fighting Irish capitalized on their chances first, when senior forward Erich Braun’s shot bounced high over the heads of the defenders. In the ensuing race, Notre Dame junior midfielder Justin Detter outran Hoya junior goalkeeper Tim Hogan to the ball and directed the ball into the goal in the 16th minute.
Eager to not enter halftime trailing, Georgetown picked up its offense and attacked the opposing goal. In the 28th minute, freshman forward Benjamin Jefferson-Dow fired a shot at the goal, but senior goalkeeper Greg Tait tipped it away. Georgetown freshman forward Kemmons Feldman rushed to claim the loose ball and slipped it into the goal to even the score.
Despite other strong scoring chances, both teams remained tied 1-1 at the half. When the teams returned to the field, they resumed their entertaining and intensive play. The Hoyas eventually went up when freshman forward Michael Banner sent a corner kick to the far side of the goal, where freshman back Jeff Curtin headed it past the goalkeeper at the beginning of the 64th minute.
“Even though I play mainly defense, I’ve played up a lot. Today the ball came to me often, and I’m glad I got the goals,” Curtin said.
Georgetown later faced a blow to its offense when Jefferson-Dow left the game after the referee issued a red card at 85:37. Nine seconds later, the Fighting Irish forced the ball near the Hoya goal, where junior midfielder Greg Martin headed the ball to tie the score once more.
Georgetown struggled to hold off the Notre Dame offense and send the game into overtime, but fate had different plans. While the Hoyas charged the challenger’s goal with less than a minute left, a Notre Dame defender knocked the ball out of bounds. After the throw-in landed inside the box, sophomore forward Paul Brandley attempted to head it into the goal. While that failed to work, a scramble for the followed and the referee blew his whistle to call a handball on a Norte Dame back.
With only 24 seconds left on the clock, Curtin rocketed the ball past the goalkeeper to seal the Hoya victory. Curtin certainly felt the pressure, but came through.
“We were tired, down a man and we didn’t want to go into overtime. I figured I had to put it away, so I hit it hard to the corner.”
With the win, Georgetown moves to 6-8-0 for the season and 4-4-0 in the Big East. They now hold-sole possession of eighth place in the league with 12 points. Notre Dame falls to 9-4-3 in total and 5-3-1 in the Big East with 16 points.
The game marks a striking turnaround from last week’s disappointing 4-1 loss to Virginia Tech. Tabatznik had his opinions on the change.
“Effort and commitment. No other secrets. It was a great effort over the course of the week and it paid off today in the game. We beat a very good team today that played very well.”
Notre Dame’s offense made an impressive 24 shots for the game while the Hoyas churned out 15. Tait, Notre Dame’s goalkeeper, had four saves to Hogan’s eight. Before this game the Fighting Irish had only let up one goal in five straight games while accumulating 12 goals themselves. Both teams played a fairly physical game, with Notre Dame edging out Georgetown 13-12 in fouls. The two teams also had two players each who received yellow cards.
The team next faces the University of Pennsylvania on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. in Philadelphia, a break from conference play after having tackled three consecutive Big East opponents.
“It’s a relief not to play a Big East team next,” Curtain said. But we still have to come out and play. It’s still a big game.”