Sept. 8, 2011
WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University men's soccer squad has its first road trip of the season scheduled for this weekend with the Hoyas playing a pair of Big 10 contests in the state of Michigan. The Blue & Gray will face Michigan State on Friday and Michigan on Sunday as the team looks to build upon a successful weekend.
The Hoyas went 2-0 last weekend at North Kehoe Field including an overtime victory. Georgetown defeated Radford, 2-0, on Friday and then downed Stanford on Sunday, 1-0, in double overtime. The Hoyas are now 2-1 on the season after opening the year with a tough loss to No. 16 Virginia Commonwealth.
For his efforts last week, sophomore forward Steve Neumann (New Hope, Pa./Council Rock North) earned a spot on the College Soccer News National Team of the Week and was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll.
Neumann had two goals in the 2-0 victory over Radford on Friday. The goals were just one minute and 19 seconds apart helping the Blue & Gray to its first win of the season. On Sunday, he added a third goal scoring in overtime to defeat Stanford. Neumann has now scored all three goals for Georgetown so far this season.
The forward was a Second Team All-BIG EAST selection last year and earned a spot on two national all-rookie squads as well as an all-region honor after an impressive freshman campaign. The forward led the squad in scoring with 10 goals and eight assists for 28 points. His ten goals were off of just 15 shots on goal and his eight assists ranked him second on the squad.
Michigan State is currently 1-2 on the season picking up its first win of the year on Sunday downing New Hampshire, 3-0. The Spartans have played a tough schedule falling No. 3 Connecticut, 2-1, and Detroit, 1-0, in overtime. MSU was tabbed fifth in the pre-season conference polls with three Spartans named Players to Watch including seniors Rubin Bega and Cyrus Saydee, and a returning all-Big Ten selection, junior Kevin Cope.
Bega is leading the squad with two goals and one assist to his credit. Jeremy Clark has been seeing time in the net with five saves on the year.
The Hoyas are 1-0 all-time against Michigan State defeating the Spartans last season at North Kehoe Field by a score of 4-0. At the time, MSU was ranked No. 24 in the NSCAA poll.
Michigan is 0-4 on the year after falling to Bowling Green, 2-0, and Kentucky, 2-1, to open the season. The Wolverines lost to Butler, 2-1, and Northern Illinois, 1-0, as part of the Michigan Invitational. Sophomore Fabio Villas Boas Pereira has been the only Wolverine to find the back of the net this season, scoring a PK goal against Kentucky and another goal against Butler. Junior Latif Alashe is the only other Wolverine to record a point, assisting on Pereira's goal versus the Bulldogs.
Michigan is coming off its most successful season in program history, going 17-5-3 while making its first-ever appearance in the College Cup. The Wolverines won their first Big Ten Tournament title in school history, reeling off nine consecutive victories to end the season before falling to No. 2 Akron in the national semifinal match.
This will be the first meeting schools. The Wolverines will face Marshall on Friday.
The weekend will be a homecoming for sophomore Joey Dillon who is from Rochester Hills, Mich., and attended Rochester Adams High School.
The Hoyas will play on Friday against Michigan at 5 p.m. ET. Gametracker will be available at www.GUHoyas.com for Friday and for the 2 p.m. ET kickoff against Michigan State on Sunday.
