If you listened closely this weekend, you could hear the sound of a broken record playing over and over again on North Kehoe Field.
The refrain of solid defense, missed opportunities and a 1-0 loss repeated itself, and Georgetown heard all three against both Rutgers on Friday and Villanova on Sunday in its first two home games of the season. The matches marked the fourth and fifth 1-0 losses for the Hoyas, who have netted only three goals in nine games this year.
“It’s like we’re in the twilight zone right now,” sophomore defender Len Coleman said. “I can’t say I’ve ever seen anything like it. You’re leaving the field every time thinking you should have won the game, but if you can’t score, that can’t happen.”
Against the Scarlet Knights (3-5-1, 2-2 Big East), the Hoyas (2-7, 1-4) held a 15-8 advantage in shots, but could not finish on any of their chances. Not helping matters for Georgetown was the loss of senior forward Mike Glaccum, who sprained his ankle in the 27th minute while dribbling at the top of the Rutgers box.
After Glaccum was helped off the field, the Scarlet Knights were awarded a free kick that many fans felt should have been played back to the Hoyas, since soccer etiquette calls for the ball to be returned to the team that had possession before the injury. Rutgers elected to keep possession and less than 20 seconds later, senior forward Chris Moore crossed a ball into Georgetown’s box that freshman midfielder Dilly Duka ran onto and knocked past freshman atthew Brutto, who was making his second consecutive start at goalkeeper. Outside of Duka’s tally, the Hoyas’ Head Coach Brian Wiese felt his team did not give up many scoring chances.
“Brutto played very well again,” Wiese said. “He had no chance on the goal, but how many good saves did he have to make on the day? Not a whole lot. I didn’t feel like we were under that much pressure as the game wore on.”
Brutto made four saves, mostly on weak headers and shots from distance. After the Rutgers goal, Georgetown dictated the pace of the game and created a plethora of good scoring chances.
In the 41st minute, freshman midfielder Jose Colchao, who had entered the game five minutes earlier, drew a foul in the Scarlet Knights’ box. On the penalty kick, senior goalkeeper Matt VanOekel made a diving save to his left on junior midfielder Corey Zeller’s shot. VanOekel left a rebound, but Zeller hit the inside of the crossbar on his second attempt and Rutgers was able to clear the ball.
The Hoyas pressed for the entire second half, but could not come up with the equalizer as VanOekel saved all seven of their shots on goal.
“I thought we created more of the opportunities – the better opportunities,” Coleman said. “I thought we deserved to win the game.”
Sunday, Villanova (8-2, 2-1) wasted little time, scoring in the sixth minute off of a free kick. Freshman midfielder Chris Christian sent a ball into the Georgetown box and senior defender att Sleece hit a strong header that slipped through the hands of senior goalkeeper Joe Devine.
“The goal was one Joe will want back. It’s a save he’ll make nine times out of 10,” Wiese said. “Goalkeeping is about rhythm and he’s been in and out lately.”
Again, the Hoyas controlled the tempo of the game, with freshmen outside defenders Mostafa Ebrahimnejad and Ibukun Otegbeye pushing up and sending crosses into the box.
With 15 minutes remaining in the second half, freshman midfielder Seth C’deBaca played a through ball to sophomore midfielder Scott Larrabee who slid a pass across the face of the goal. Several Georgetown players were in the area, but none could knock the ball home.
“[The Hoyas] could have scored two goals with all their chances,” Villanova Head Coach Larry Sullivan said. “It’s just a matter of concentrating and finishing your goal.”
Glaccum sparked the offense, coming on as a reserve, despite a doctor saying he would take two to four weeks to be able to play.
“You keep telling yourself if you get one they’re going to start coming fast,” Glaccum said of the scoring troubles. “Sometime very soon we’re going to have to have someone step up and put the ball in the back of the net.”
Although the Hoyas took 18 shots and put five on goal, the Wildcats recorded their seventh shutout of the season.
Georgetown has the week off before it plays host to Providence (5-3-1, 2-1-1) Saturday at North Kehoe Field.