No. 17 Georgetown men’s soccer ties No. 19 Penn State, 0-0
Overtime continued as a theme for the Georgetown University men’s soccer team on Tuesday evening as the No. 17 Hoyas tied the No. 19 Penn State Nittany Lions (5-2-2), 0-0, in double overtime. It marked the sixth overtime contest in the first nine games of the season and the squad’s fifth shutout of the year. The Blue & Gray is now 5-1-3 on the year.<img class="alignright size-full wp-image-4079" title="Julian Cardona (17)Photo by Mark Selders” src=”http://worldbestsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/69118231.jpeg” alt=”" width=”150″ height=”250″ />
“We came in a played a good game of soccer, the first 60 minutes went very well and we settled in right away,” said Georgetown Head Coach Brian Wiese. “Ian (Christianson) and Joey (Dillon) ran the midfield and Jimmy (Nealis) looked as dangerous as he has all season along with Ibu (Otegbeye) who played a great game. We did what we wanted to do and our only fault was that we didn’t get the final piece by putting in a goal.”
The Hoyas managed five shots in the first half, but none on goal despite looking the better team early. The elements played a role as the precipitation made Jeffrey Field heavy.
The rain really picked up early in the second half as neither squad could gain momentum due to the deluge of water from the skies. As the rain finally weakened, it was the Hoyas who began to look dangerous controlling possession for much of the half.
Georgetown’s first shot on goal was off of an Ian Christianson (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Christian Life) corner kick in the 61st minute. After serving it in, senior defender Ben Slingerland (Beverly, Mass./St. John’s Prep) managed to get his head on it, sending it towards the net. Penn State freshman goalkeeper Andrew Wolverton made the save to keep the contests scoreless.
In both overtime periods, Penn State controlled the pace of play but it was Georgetown that got off a shot on goal in each. Freshman Austin Martz (Mechanicsburg, Pa/Mechanicsburg) challenged Wolverton in the first, but the shot was saved. In the second overtime period, sophomore Steve Neumann (New Hope, Pa./Council Rock North) had the final play of the game with six seconds remaining, but couldn’t find the back of the net.
On defense, the Hoyas stood strong clogging up the top of the box and never really allowing the Lions a solid look at the goal. After 110 minutes of play, the score remained 0-0 resulting in a tie.
The stats were fairly balanced as both squads tallied 12 shots with the Hoyas notching three on goal and the Lions none. Wolverton managed three saves in the net with Georgetown rookie goalkeeper Tomas Gomez (Webster Groves, Mo./Webster Groves) never really being tested. GU was awarded four corners to Penn State’s one.
“It was really a different level of intensity tonight,” said Wiese. “It was a night game and the boys knew they would have to play well. The defense did a great job snuffing out Penn State attacks and the midfield picked the ball off. Tomas (Gomez) did all of the little things handling tricky crosses, it was a true team effort.”
Georgetown finishes play against Big Ten opponents on the road with a record of 1-0-2 with all three contests going into overtime and the victory coming against Michigan State.
“We really challenged ourselves with this schedule and if you would have told me at the beginning of the season we would come away from this stretch without a loss, I wouldn’t have believed you,” said Wiese. “Not losing any of these games is impressive at any level and especially with five of six on the road. Hopefully this will translate to good performances at home where we are comfortable.”
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