Despite near-arctic conditions, the Georgetown’s men soccer team got off to a hot start in the NCAA tournament. In the Hoyas’ first game of the tournament, three different players scored, solidifying the 3-0 home win over Old Dominion. The victory earned No. 6 Georgetown (14-4-2) a spot in the third round of the tournament and a matchup with No. 11 Michigan State (13-5-3). That game will be played at home on Sunday, Dec. 1.
Georgetown got off to a quick start and dominated the first 15 minutes of the game, accumulating four corner kicks and two shots. In the 12th minute, sophomore defender Cole Seiler redirected a header from sophomore forward Brandon Allen before it could roll out of bounds. Selier then buried a shot in the back of the net to give Georgetown the early 1-0 lead.
After conceding the goal, Old Dominion responded by playing a more aggressive game. The Monarchs took six corner kicks and five shots in the final 15 minutes of the first half but were unable to put anything past junior goalkeeper Tomas Gomez.
Old Dominion carried this momentum into the second half and took eight shots in the first 10 minutes. Georgetown’s defense held off Old Dominion while the Hoyas’ offense pressed for an insurance goal.
That insurance goal came in the 60th minute, when freshman midfielder Bakie Goodman fired a shot past the Monarchs’ goalie off of a cross from sophomore defender Josh Turnley.
Faced with a 2-0 deficit, Old Dominion was forced to abandon any sort of conservative strategy. In the final 30 minutes of play, as many as nine Monarchs would involve themselves in the offensive attack. The Hoyas’ back line and Gomez, however, absorbed the pressure with relatively few nervy moments.
“Old Dominion is a really good team, we watched them run over Drexel, with potent attack players. It’s great to get another shutout against a team of that caliber,” Head Coach Brian Wiese said, according to Georgetown Sports Information.
As the game entered its final minutes both sides became more aggressive and physical. In the 82nd minute, senior forward and captain Steve Neumann was involved in an altercation with Monarchs’ senior goalkeeper Sean Stowe .Stowe confronted Neumann for supposedly shoving one of his teammates. The incident grew to involve players from both teams, and the sides had to be separated by referees and coaches.
Neumann was dangerously fouled just seconds later by Old Dominion junior midfielder Ivan Militar, who received a yellow card for the play. In the 87th minute, and less than a minute after the yellow card, freshman midfielder Alex Muyl showed off his ball-handling skills and dribbled through two defenders before sliding the ball past the keeper, accounting for the Hoyas’ last score of the afternoon.
Michigan State is up next for Georgetown. The Spartans went 1-0-1 against Big East teams this season, including a win over conference champion Marquette. Michigan State earned the matchup against the Hoyas after defeating Louisville in the second round of the tournament. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m on Dec. 1.