Oct. 18, 2008
Box Score
Pittsburgh, Pa. - The Georgetown men's soccer squad accomplished what it hadn't done since late September on Saturday in Pittsburgh, Pa. The team defeated the University of Pittsburgh (6-6-2, 2-5-1 BIG EAST), 1-0, marking its first win since September 26. After a number of conference draws, this victory comes at a crucial time for the Hoyas who are winding down the season with three BIG EAST games remaining. The win improves GU to 8-3-3 on the season and 3-2-3 in the league for a total of 11 points.
"Getting this eighth win couldn't have come at a more opportune time for us," said Head Coach Brian Wiese. "We are now still in contention for the first or second position in our division in the conference with a few games left on the schedule. Picking up three points on the road with these conditions keeps us where we want to be."
The Hoyas struck first and early catching the Panthers off-guard in the opening minutes. In the sixth minute, Scott Larrabee (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Loyola HS of LA) crossed the ball from the left side and found Peter Grasso (Burr Ridge,Ill./Hinsdale Central) in the box who managed to slide the ball into the right corner of the net to put the Hoyas up 1-0.
The remainder of the game would be an offensive demonstration by Georgetown, but Pitt keeper, Jordan Marks, had a career day with 14 saves to his credit holding the Hoyas to just a single goal. GU once again outshot its opponent by a huge margin (21-4) and took 12 corners while the Panthers attempted three, all coming in the second half.
On the defensive end of the field, the Hoyas' back four was dominant against the Panther offense allowing just four shots on goal. Georgetown keeper Matthew Brutto (Warrington, Pa./Central Bucks South) had a game-saving stop with just ten minutes to go when the Panthers came down and fired their best look of the game. Brutto finished with four saves and the shutout. He has yet to allow a goal this season in over 600 minutes of play and is undefeated in the net.
After the remaining 84 minutes of play, the Hoyas came away with the victory and three points in the BIG EAST.
"We were happy with how the boys played today, they created a lot of chances and with 15 shots on goal it shows that we are on target," said Wiese. "Peter (Grasso), Seth (C'deBaca) and Scotty (Larrabee) all had good days and based on how they played, I would have thought we would have scored more goals. However, we knew we were facing a good team under tough conditions and that we weren't going to go in there and blow anyone out. Today is just a terrific result for us."
Georgetown will have the week off before hosting West Virginia at North Kehoe Field next Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for noon. The game will be webcast and live stats will be available at www.guhoyas.com.
