“Soccer is a funny sport,” Head Coach Brian Wiese said after Georgetown’s 2-1 overtime win over American University on Tuesday, a refrain he has repeated often this season.

And who better to make such a statement than the coach of a team that overcame a prolonged scoring drought, two consecutive defeats and a shoddy first-half performance to sneak up from behind and snatch victory right from the Eagles’ talons.

“It wasn’t our best game,” sophomore midfielder Scott Larrabee said, “but we got the job done.”

It was freshman forward Chandler Diggs who scored the crucial golden goal five minutes into overtime, heading in a sailing cross from the right flank by classmate midfielder Seth C’deBaca and rescuing the Hoyas from the claws of yet another derby defeat.

“Chandler [Diggs] and Seth [C’deBaca] are two of the guys who are really creating chances and are players capable of scoring,” Wiese said. “It’s great to see the freshman putting in good performances.”

Georgetown (4-9-0) got off to a sluggish start against their oldest rivals American (5-7-2), missing the services of feisty freshman defender Ibukun “Ibu” Otegbeye, who was out with a knee injury. American pressured the home team from kick-off, maintaining majority possession and playing mostly in the Hoya half of the field, while the Hoyas were unable to create much attacking buildup towards the Eagles’ end due to an aggressive defensive display.

The Hoyas resorted to taking more long shots at goal, mostly coming from Diggs and junior midfielder Sean Bellomy, availing to nothing but six ineffective shots in the first half, compared to the Eagles’ more accurate five.

But the Hoya defense was caught napping in the 40th minute, and the Eagles’ unmarked sophomore forward Jake Van Yahres robbed the ball right off the feet of sophomore center back Len Coleman as he looked to pass back to the keeper, and blasted the ball in the back of the net to put the Eagles in the lead 1-0.

Georgetown’s best chance to equalize in the first half came three minutes from time, when junior midfielder Hunter Joslin fed in a long ball from the right wing to American’s near-post, but neither Bellomy nor Larrabee were able to connect with the cross well enough to put it past the line.

“All I did at halftime,” Wiese said, “was give the guys the lineup and say `Are you kidding me?’ before I left things up to them to handle.”

And handle they did, for the Eagles’ goal seemed to have snapped them out of a reverie and back into action. C’deBaca put on a spirited performance, managing to shake off his markers and provide pinpoint crosses into the box for the forwards as well as take shots himself. Diggs was as usual in active pursuit of a goal, notching up a total of four attempts at goal during the match. Bellomy bore the brunt of American’s brute force as he was on the receiving end of numerous challenges by the Eagles, including a 75th-minute tackle in the box, which was dismissed by the referee Bill Ditmar, much to the outrage of the local supporters. Coleman redeemed himself with a couple of solid clearances when the Eagles looked the most threatening, as well as an attempted header on goal in the 84th minute.

It was Larrabee who equalized in the 52nd minute, when he fired in a one-touch volley off of beautiful buildup play involving C’deBaca, senior defender Richard Diaz and Diggs, the latter of whom crossed the ball from the right wing all the way to the far post for the goal-scorer.

“We have struggled to finish lately,” Larrabee said, “which is why we’ve been doing a lot of finishing and shooting drills, and a lot of them were similar to the goal that I scored today.”

The equalizer fired up both sides and there was increased pressure on both goalkeepers as forwards from both sides began pushing harder towards the goals. Ten minutes from time, the Eagles’ sophomore midfielder Cameron Petty shot over the goal, while five minutes from the end of regulation, C’deBaca floated in a chip that bounced off the crossbar. The frustration began to set in, and the Eagles earned their second booking in the 86th minute when junior defender Tremaine Chinapoo uprooted freshman forward Jose Colchao, who had to be taken off the field for treatment.

The last attempt on goal came in the last minute of regulation, when C’deBaca ran past two defenders and put in a shot, but it went right into the gloves of American’s senior goalkeeper Chris Sedlak. With the scores tied at 1-1, the game went into the fourth overtime for the Hoyas this season.

American came dangerously close to scoring off a corner just five minutes from the end of overtime, but Coleman put in an important clearance and initiated the move that resulted in Diggs’ goal.

“We finally found a way to win a close game,” C’deBaca said. “We played better in the second half than we did in the first, but we showed toughness throughout it and we won.”

“The season seems to be catching up to us,” Wiese said. “From the coach’s point of view, it was a poor outing, but it was great to see the guys get a long overdue win and I’m proud of them.”