The No. 13/17 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 Midwestern foes. The Blue & Gray will face the University of Illinois-Chicago Flames on Friday and the University of Wisconsin Badgers on Sunday as the team looks to build upon a success last weekend.
The Hoyas went 2-0 last weekend at North Kehoe Field to move up seven positions in the NSCAA National Poll. Georgetown defeated Cal State Northridge, 1-0, on Friday and then downed Penn State on Sunday, 2-1. The Hoyas are now 4-0 on the season after opening the year with an overtime win over the University of Virginia as well as defeating Florida Gulf Coast. It is the best start since the 2008 season when GU opened the year 5-0.
For his efforts last week, freshman forward Brandon Allen (Old Bridge, N.J./St. Joseph's) was named the College Soccer News National Player of the Week and the BIG EAST Rookie of the Week. Additionally, senior co-captain Jimmy Nealis (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) was named the BIG EAST Defender of the Week.
Allen scored three goals last week and all three were gamewinners. He led the Hoyas to three wins, scoring the lone goals against Florida Gulf Coast and Cal State Northridge, along with the deciding tally against Penn State. The freshman forward has made his mark early with goals in three-consecutive games to lead the squad with six points on the season.
Nealis helped the Hoyas' defense allow just one goal in a 3-0-0 week. While anchoring a defense that was missing a key component of the backline, the senior defender and co-captain took a shot that led to an own goal and assisted on a gamewinner in a 2-1 victory against Penn State. He was part of a defense with two shutouts on the week.
UIC is coming off a 1-0 setback at No. 20 Marquette University last Friday, in its third-straight road game. The Flames enter this weekend's homestand with a 1-2 overall record after defeating host Ohio State, 2-0 on Aug. 26. Senior midfielder Ivan Stanisavljevic, junior forward Ned Pavlovic and junior defender Zach Kaleta have each scored one goal on the season. Junior goalkeeper Piotr Kikolski has started all three contests, posting a 1.00 GAA.
This is the first meeting between the squads. Georgetown is 2-1 all-time against teams from the Horizon League.
Wisconsin (1-1-1) posted a 0-1-1 record at the Nike Portland Invitational, dropping a 3-2 decision to No. 25 Washington on Aug. 31, and settling for a 1-1 draw against Portland on Sept. 1. Junior forward Chris Prince is leading the way with two goals on the season while sophomore midfielder Jide Oluyedun has a goal and an assist. Freshman Chase Rau has played 245 minutes in the net with six saves and a 1.84 GAA.
Georgetown is 0-1 all-time against the Badgers. The lone meeting came in Madison, Wis., during the 2005 season where the Blue & Gray fell, 5-0, in the Wisconsin Tournament. Georgetown is already 1-0 against the Big 10 so far this season. Wisconsin will face Florida International on Friday evening.
The Hoyas will play on Friday against UIC at 8 p.m. ET. Gametracker will be available at www.GUHoyas.com for Friday and for the 1 p.m. ET kickoff against Wisconsin on Sunday. Additionally, a webcast will be available for the Wisconsin game on the Badgers' athletic website.
