Box Score

WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University men's soccer squad (2-5-0, 1-0-0 BIG EAST) started strong in BIG EAST Conference play on Saturday evening with a 1-0 victory over the Providence College Friars (4-3-0, 0-1-0 BIG EAST) at Chapey Field in Rhode Island. Georgetown used a big second-half push to find the game winner and pick up three crucial points on the road in conference play.

"Tonight is one of the fringe benefits of playing at Akron and at Maryland early in the season, playing in those daunting environments," said Georgetown Head Coach. "Our guys were prepared for the atmosphere and it really helped us come out on the right side of a 1-0 win. It was a gutsy performance from the guys and I'm really happy with the result."

It was a tale of two halves as the Friars had more chances in the first half, but the Hoyas came back and took over in the second.

Providence got the first shot of the game as Georgetown goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski (Alamo, Calif./De La Salle) made the stop. Providence had the better looks, but very early in the match the tone was already set that the game would be physical.

The Hoya offense just couldn't generate a quality chance and as the minutes ticked away, the Friars had multiple corners that were thwarted by Marcinkowski and the Georgetown defense.

A free kick with nine minutes to go in the first half was sent in by junior midfielder Christopher Lema (Ridgefield, N.J./St. Stephen's Episcopal School) and headed by senior defender PJ Koscher (Bel Air, Md./Archbishop Curley), but the shot was saved. It marked GU's best chance of the half.

The defense continued to stand tall in the first 45 minutes and the teams went into the break scoreless. Providence held an 8-4 margin in shots and took six corner kicks while the Hoyas took none.

The second half continued with the physical play, but in the 54th minute it all changed.

A Providence foul just outside the box gave the Blue & Gray a free kick from 19 yards at the top right corner of the box. Lema served in a perfect ball just over the defense and senior forward Brett Campbell (Wallingford, Pa./The Haverford School) snuck in and struck. He found the back of the net to give Georgetown the 1-0 lead.

"It was a great goal, a good serve by Chris and a great finish by Brett," said Wiese. "We told the guys that in tonight's game there would be a fine line between winning and losing that would be dependent on making plays on both ends of the field and we did that tonight."

Minutes later, senior midfielder Bakie Goodman (Sarasota, Fla./Pine View School for the Gifted) had a shot from almost the same spot as the free kick which was saved by PC keeper Ben Seguljic resulting in a corner.

Georgetown continued to control the pace throughout the second half until late when Providence threw everyone forward looking for the equalizer.

With 12 minutes left, the Friars had an open look that was saved by Marcinkowki. With six minutes to go, dangerous back-to-back looks were stopped by the Hoya defense.

The Blue & Gray had struggled in the final minute of games previously, but with the Friars threatening Georgetown stood strong and held on for the 1-0 shutout victory.

The Hoyas were outshot, 16-11, and took five corner kicks to Providence's eight. Marcinkowski was credited with his second clean sheet of the season notching eight saves, while Seguljic took the loss with four stops on the evening.

Georgetown will be back in action on Saturday at 1 p.m., as the squad hosts the Xavier University Musketeers in a BIG EAST matchup at Shaw Field. The game will be broadcast live on the BIG EAST Digital Network with Dan Helfrich on the play-by-play. Fans can follow the live stats at www.GUHoyas.com.

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