Box Score | Photo Gallery

WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University's men's soccer squad (6-8-2, 3-3-2 BIG EAST) defeated the Villanova University Wildcats (9-6-2, 4-3-1 BIG EAST), 3-2, in GU's final home game of the regular season on Saturday at Shaw Field. The win kept the Hoyas in contention for a BIG EAST Championship berth win one game remaining in the regular season.

"The guys did a lot of things we were hoping they were going to do today," said Georgetown Head Coach Brian Wiese. "All of the pieces were working today, and we had a lot of guys that made plays. That's a really good Villanova team, and we had the mentality that we had to win today to be put in the situation to play for a playoff berth on Thursday."

The Hoyas opened the game aggressively on offense with a shot from junior midfielder Arun Basuljevic (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) and a header by junior forward Zach Knudson (Oakland, N.J./DePaul Catholic (NC State)) both being stopped in the early minutes of the contest. The Hoyas continued to shoot as every ball that was whipped in was an opportunity that just did not find the back of the net for the Blue & Gray.

Despite the momentum, it was Villanova which struck first. In the 28th minute, a corner kick allowed Lucas Hodges to serve it in from the right side. His ball to the back post found the head of Padraic McCullaugh who sent it into the left corner to make it 1-0.

As Villanova packed it in on defense, the Hoya offense continued to pressure. The equalizer came off of Georgetown's eighth corner kick of the game. Junior midfielder Christopher Lema (Ridgefield, N.J./St. Stephen's Episcopal School) served a ball to the back post, and freshman defender Dylan Nealis (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) flew into the mix to head the ball into the net to score his first intercollegiate goal and tie the game, 1-1, in the 39th minute.

As time ticked away, sophomore goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski (Alamo, Calif./De La Salle) did his job in the net. With a 1v1 coming against Villanova's leading scorer Miguel Polley, Marcinkowski made the stop with a kick save to keep it tied going into the break.

The corner kicks continued to come in the second half as the Hoya offense pressured, and the Wildcat defense kept blocking it at the endline. On the 14th corner of the game for GU, Lema sent it in and found the head of Knudson. The junior transfer rose up above the crowd in the middle of the box and headed it to the left corner to give the Blue & Gray the 2-1 lead in the 61st minute.

Georgetown didn't let up and continued to look for the back of the net, as Basuljevic had another shot go just high.

In the 70th minute, senior midfielder Jon Azzinnari (Nutley, N.J./Seton Hall Prep) scored his team-leading fourth of the season as Basuljevic was on the left side and knocked it to the top of the box. Azzinnari had one man to beat and shot it to the left to make it 3-1.

Villanova put on the pressure in the 81st minute, when the Wildcats scored on another close header to narrow the deficit to one, 3-2.

As Villanova pressured, the defense could not clear it resulting in a corner with five minutes remaining. The ball was headed around four times before it finally went to the left post. Marcinkowski showed his skills diving for the ball and hitting it out of the net to keep the advantage.

This would be the Wildcats' final chance as the Hoyas held on for the 3-2 victory.

Georgetown outshot Villanova, 17-15, and took 14 corners to VU's six. Marcinkowski was credited with the victory and four saves, while the Wildcat defense combined for four saves on the afternoon.

The Hoya victory snapped a four-game unbeaten streak for the Wildcats.

Georgetown will close out the regular season on Thursday as the squad travels to Omaha, Neb., to take on No. 18 Creighton University at 8 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast live on the BIG EAST Digital Network, and live stats will be available at www.GUHoyas.com

To watch, download the FOX Sports GO app for iOS, Android, Kindle Fire tablets and phones and select Windows devices to view BIG EAST Digital Network games on-the-go. New for 2016, the app now supports Roku, Apple TV and Chromecast. The FOX Sports GO platform can also be accessed at FOXSportsGO.com on desktops. A cable provider's login is required to access FOXSportsGO on a desktop.