Oct. 29, 2008
Box Score
South Bend, Ind. - Georgetown University men's soccer suffered a, 2-1, loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-5-2, 6-2-2 BIG EAST) Wednesday in South Bend, Ind. After allowing an early Irish score, the Hoyas tied it up but allowed another UND goal off of a free kick to fall in the BIG EAST contest. With the loss, Georgetown drops to 9-4-3 overall and 4-3-3 in the conference while Notre Dame claims at least a share of the Blue Division title.
Georgetown had a few solid looks early in the game with Peter Grasso (Burr Ridge,Ill./Hinsdale Central) taking the most promising shot of the half. However, it was Notre Dame that found the back of the net first when Jeb Brovsky hit a shot from the top of the box in the 23rd minute. The Hoyas came back with two more shots in the half but keeper Andrew Quinn stopped both to go into the break down, 1-0. Georgetown took six shots to Notre Dame's four in the first and also had one more corner kick.
The Hoyas scored the equalizer early in the second after a heads up play by the midfield. A foul just over the midfield awarded GU the restart, and they took advantage of a confused Irish squad to get it to Seth C'deBaca (Albuquerque, N.M./Sandia Prep) who sent it into the box for Grasso who slid it past Quinn to tie it up.
"I have to credit to our guys for recognizing that we had the advantage, it was a well played goal. Seth had a great through ball and Peter did very well to finish it off," said Head Coach Brian Wiese. "I thought our guys came to play to win the game and we put together a good performance but couldn't get the shots to fall."
Unfortunately, the Irish came right back down the field and were awarded a free kick well outside the box. Jack Traynor sent it into the box and Brovsky struck for his second score of the day off of a header to make it, 2-1. In the 62nd minute, Corey Zeller (Toms River, N.J./Toms River) hit a shot and Quinn made a diving save but injured himself in the process resulting in a substitute in the net. Despite the new keeper, the Hoyas could not find the second score of the game and were trailing, 2-1, at the final whistle.
Georgetown was outshot 12-10 but took two more corners (4-2) in the matchup. GU goalkeeper Matthew Brutto (Warrington, Pa./Central Bucks South) suffered his first loss of the season with two saves on the day. Despite the loss, the Hoya midfield continued to impress controlling much of the offensive play.
"Rob Burnett and the rest of the midfield had a great performance today," said Wiese. "Rob continues to get better and better, I feel he's one of the best midfielders in the league at the moment and he was a big part of our game today. We'll look to him to take on a bigger role as we move into the postseason.
The Hoyas will play their final regular season game on Saturday as they host Marquette University at North Kehoe Field for Senior Day. Kickoff is scheduled for noon, there will be a short Senior Day presentation prior to the starting lineups. Gametracker and live audio will be available at www.guhoyas.com.
"I have to give credit to Notre Dame, they came into the game with a league title on the line and came through to get the win. I'm also proud of our boys, I thought we were up for it today but we just didn't get the result we wanted. We'll have a quick turnaround and need to refocus to prepare for Marquette on Saturday," said Wiese.
