At the end of the last season, the Hoyas came upon a fork in the road. In their first four games of this season, they’ve taken it.
Heeding Yogi Berra’s advice, Georgetown’s defensive unit has improved significantly since last year, while its offense has gone down the other road. With the Big East opener looming tomorrow at Connecticut, a squad ranked fourth in the nation, the offense needs directions to get to the level of play of the defense.
Georgetown (1-3) has three of four regular starters from last year’s backline – junior Sean Bellomy and sophomores Len Coleman and Mark Zeman – in addition to senior goalkeeper Joe Devine, who started eight of last year’s 17 contests.
On the other side of the field, the Hoyas lost 63 percent of their scoring from last season. Seniors Ricky Schramm (10 goals) and Peter Grasso (3 goals) graduated and sophomore Richard Frank (2 goals) transferred to the University of Pennsylvania.
“We’re creating good chances, and that’s the important thing,” Head Coach Brian Wiese said. “I’ll start worrying if the chances dry up.”
Although Wiese said it is not time to hit the panic button, the numbers do not lie. The offense has mustered one goal in four games, roughly six times less than last year’s 1.38 average output.
The defense has kept the squad afloat. They have allowed only 1.25 goals against, compared to last season when opponents netted 1.78 goals per game. Over the past three games, one against then-No. 8 SMU, they have let in just two goals.
To come away with a win or tie this Saturday at UConn, the stifling defense will need some help from the offense.
The Huskies recently moved up to fourth in the polls after a 3-0 trouncing of then-No. 15 South Carolina last week. UConn is 5-0 and have shut out their last four opponents. They have taken 93 shots on the season to their opponents’ 25.
The Huskies have made nine consecutive NCAA tournament appearances and are coming off of a second place finish in the Big East Blue Division, the same division in which the Hoyas placed seventh last year. UConn was tabbed by the coaches’ poll to win the division this year.
Last season, defender Julius Jones, midfielder Toni Stahl and forward O’Brian White were all named to the all-Big East first team. All three return this year, looking to improve on last season’s success.
“They returned virtually everyone from a very good team last year,” Wiese said.
Jones is the two-time reigning defensive player of the year in the Big East, and White is the reigning Big East player of the week as he leads the conference with six goals.
The Huskies will not overlook the Hoyas in the conference opener for both sides.
“Wiese has a great recruiting class and he’s organized his team well defensively,” UConn Head Coach Ray Reid said. “They are a defensive team so it’s going to be a tough game.”
The Hoyas have not beaten the Huskies since 2001, when Wiese’s recruiting class of 11 freshmen was still a few years shy of high school.
The freshmen may be the reason Georgetown has been so defensive this year. Younger players tend to have more energy and get back on defense quickly when the other team has the ball.
“Georgetown has a lot of youth so they got 11 players behind the ball defensively,” said Schellas Hyndman, head coach of No. 3 Southern Methodist. The Mustangs beat the Hoyas 1-0 last weekend.
Wiese said that the SMU game helped him decide what his lineup would look like going into the Big East slate. He listed six freshmen – forwards Jose Colchao and Chandler Diggs and midfielders Seth C’deBaca, Mostafa Ebrahimnejad, Ibukun Otegbeye and Robert Burnett – as players that could see playing time against UConn.
In their first taste of Big East action, the freshmen are in for a tall task. Not only do they have to play the fourth-ranked team on the field, the Goal Patrol, the UConn men’s soccer spirit group, will be out in full force. Reid said there are 540 members in the group and claims it is the largest spirit group in college soccer.
Kickoff is set for tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at Morrone Stadium.
“UConn is a class team, but this is a good opportunity for us to start forging an identity for the season,” Wiese said. “We’re going up to Storrs for a result.”
