WASHINGTON – The 13th-seeded Georgetown University men's soccer squad used a late goal from junior defender Dylan Nealis (Massapequa, N.Y. / Massapequa) to get the 1-0 win over the West Virginia University Mountaineers (14-7) on Sunday afternoon in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Shaw Field.  With the win, the Hoyas improve to 13-4-3 on the season and advance to the Round of 16 next weekend.  This is the fifth time in program history that GU has advanced this far.   
 
"You need attacking pieces and it's no secret that our right back is one of our best pieces," said Georgetown Head Coach Brian Wiese.  "Dylan was in dangerous positions in their box today a lot and it makes sense that that is where our goal would come.  When you're in the Sweet 16, you're happy about it, and we get Thanksgiving together which is the mark of a good season.  The guys are super excited about another week together, this team when they get it right can be pretty good."
 
The first chance of the game was a great shot from midfielder Jacob Montes (Lake Worth, Fla. / Beaverton [Ore.] ) in the 18th minute.  The sophomore's first strike was blocked, but the second clanged off of the far post as junior forward Achara (Enugu, Nigeria / Berkshire School [Mass.]) approached and was eventually deemed offsides.  The Hoyas continued to possess, and the next dangerous chance came with 15 minutes left in the first as freshman Sean Zawadzki (Olmsted Falls, Ohio / Olmsted Falls) had shot blocked, but passed it to a wide open Matthew Ledder (Falls Church, Va. / Gonzaga) whose shot on the open net sailed high.
 
In the 37th minute, Achara was freed at the top of the box and, with Mountaineer keeper Steven Tekesky wrong footed, his shot was just left of the post as the Hoyas searched for the first goal of the match.  Five minutes later, the Hoyas had another golden chance where the result was an offsides as GU was just inches from a score.  The teams went into the half scoreless, and the Blue & Gray held a 14-2 advantage in shots.
 
In the first five minutes of the second half, Achara had a pair of good looks at the goal.  The Mountaineers answered with one of the first true opportunities of the game as a scrum in front of the net was stopped and another look went wide right.  The Hoyas continued to be off target as a shot from senior Ethan Lochner (New York, N.Y. / Stuyvesant) and another open shot from Achara was high. 
 
In the 63rd minute, a corner kick resulted in a flurry of shots from the Blue & Gray with none finding the back of the net.  With 12 minutes left, another shot from Ledder was hit perfectly but it knocked off of the far post after skipping through the entire Mountaineer defense.      
 
The game changed in the 88th minute as Nealis, wide on the right side, beat the defense to get into the box and a look on the goal.  His shot was on target and deflected off of a Mountaineer foot and into the back of the net to send the crowd at Shaw Field into a frenzy and make it 1-0.
 
The Hoyas would hold on for the 1-0 shutout victory to advance in the tournament.
 
The Blue & Gray held a 28-11 advantage in shots and took eight corner kicks to WVU's one.  Sophomore Ethan Koehler (Maplewood, N.J. / Columbia) took the shutout win in the net with five saves on the afternoon, Tekesky was given the loss with 11 saves for the game.
 
The Hoyas will now face the winner of fourth-seeded Louisville and Michigan State next weekend.  Check back to GUHoyas.com for details as the tournament continued.  Live stats and a webcast will be available at www.GUHoyas.com.