With two conference victories and a solid week of practice under their belts, the players on the men’s soccer team had no lack of motivation going into Saturday’s game against Seton Hall in South Orange, N.J. Couple that with the team’s need to win in order to shore up its chances for a postseason birth, the Hoyas had the gumption and the confidence to pull off an upset.
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Somewhere along the way, however, the team lost focus and the game slid away from the Hoyas as the Pirates issued a 3-1 loss to their challengers, damaging the Blue and Gray’s chances for moving on to the Big East Tournament next month.
For the first time this season, things had righted themselves for the Hoyas. Hobbled by inconsistency, the team had failed to win back-to-back games since August and had struggled recently against Providence, Maryland and Pittsburgh. Two easy wins against conference opponents helped rally the players, and the team had an entire week to recuperate and focus for the matchup. While Seton Hall (7-4-4, 4-2-3 Big East) spent much of the season in the national polls, Georgetown (6-8-1, 3-5-0 Big East) posted a sound record against other top 25 teams and established a reputation as a plucky, dangerous team. But pluck and determination abandoned the team on the field from the start of the game.
The Pirates started out strong, establishing momentum. Their attack paid off in the 16th minute when junior forward Jerrod Laventure, the star of the game with two goals and an assist, set up a play inside the box. Dribbling around the defenders passed the ball back-and-forth to freshman midfielder Sacha Kljestan, who fielded it to junior forward Matt Salotti, who lobbed the ball in from six yards out for the game’s first goal.
Seton Hall remained in control of play throughout the first half. The Pirates struck again with three minutes left in the half when Salotti sent the ball floating into the box. Laventure was able to get his head under it and direct it into the goal. Georgetown had only won a single game after trailing at the half, the previous weekend’s 4-1 rout of Syracuse. It would be a more difficult challenge for the Hoyas to overcome the Pirates, down two goals on the opponents’ turf.
Georgetown did manage to battle back into the game early in the second half. In the 51st minute, sophomore midfielder Danny cAnally fired a shot which Seton Hall sophomore goalkeeper Boris Pardo managed to deflect. Freshman midfielder Daniel Grasso picked up the rebound and fired it into an open net to keep the Hoyas in the game and behind by only one goal, 2-1. Grasso has become increasingly more effective as the season has worn on, seeing more playing time and helping set up scoring chances on offense.
For 20 minutes, Georgetown sought the tying goal, but Seton Hall’s defense worked hard to deny their opponents the chance. Halfway through the 71st minute, the Pirates pulled away from the Hoyas thanks to a clever move by senior midfielder Luke Vercollone, who spun past the defender and made an open pass to Laventure, who once again headed the ball into the net.
Trailing by two goals, Georgetown failed to create any last-minute magic on offense that could have saved the game. Seton Hall walked away with the 3-1 win and an extra three points in the conference standings while Georgetown had to face another defeat in a season full of small but consistent disappointments.
By the numbers, the game was relatively even. The Pirates outshot the Hoyas 15-11 in all shots and 8-4 in shots on goal. Both teams had two corner kicks and committed 13 fouls, and Hoya senior goalkeeper Tim Hogan recorded five saves to Pardo’s three. Hogan, in his final season on the Hilltop, has recorded 81 saves for a save percentage of .764 with two games left. In 16 games last year, Hogan made 83 saves for a final save percentage of .748.
The Hoyas have not performed terribly this year. They defeated Villanova, ranked No. 25 in this week’s NSCAA poll, and No. 23 Virginia Tech while tying No. 14 Indiana and playing a full 90 minutes before dropping a close contest against No. 2 Maryland. The team also had its share of unflattering losses, however, such as a 3-0 loss to St. John’s and a 3-1 loss to Providence after leading at the end of the first half. The team has failed to find a middle ground, a consistent style of playing capable of taking out weaker opponents and challenging the nation’s best.
As head coach Keith Tabatznik said earlier this year, “To be consistent takes courage,” and the team seems to lack the fire necessary to take them to a higher level of play.
Three games remain for the Hoyas. For the next contest, against Navy, the Hoyas will visit Annapolis, Md., tonight at 7 p.m. The idshipmen (5-7-1, 3-2-0 Patriot) have had a mediocre year and are the penultimate non-conference opponents for the Hoyas.
Georgetown can use the opportunity to hone its skills and build confidence in anticipation of next Saturday’s contest, the last home game this season.
