WASHINGTON – The No. 19, and second-seeded, Georgetown University men's soccer squad will host the third-seeded Providence College Friars (10-6-2) in a BIG EAST Championship Semifinal matchup on Wednesday afternoon at 2 p.m., at Shaw Field. The Hoyas are currently 10-4-3 on the season.
Three members of the squad earned BIG EAST Conference honors on Monday in the league's final set of awards. Senior defender
Peter Schropp (Omaha, Neb. / Creighton Prep) was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week and goalkeeper
Giannis Nikopolidis (Athens, Greece / Nea Genia Zirdi) received BIG EAST Freshman of the Week honors. Additionally, sophomore forward
Derek Dodson (Aurora, Ill. / Waubonsie Valley) earned a spot on the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll.
Schropp scored the game tying goal off of a free kick in the 65th minute of Georgetown's 2-1 overtime victory over No. 14 Creighton on Wednesday. It was his first free kick attempt of the year, first goal and his fourth career goal. Nikopolidis was recognized for his nine saves in the Creighton victory. He came up with a number of big stops to hold the Bluejays to just one goal on their home field. This is his second weekly award of the season and the seventh total for the Blue & Gray this year. Dodson scored the game winner in the 93rd minute to seal the Hoya victory and the No. 2 overall seed in the BIG EAST Championship.
Last week, junior defender
Dylan Nealis (Massapequa, N.Y. / Massapequa) was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year as seven different Hoyas earned BIG EAST season honors. Nealis joined Dodson and junior forward
Achara (Enugu, Nigeria / Berkshire School [Mass.]) on the first team, while senior captains
Brendan McDonough (Matthews, N.C. / Charlotte Catholic) and
Kyle Zajec (Westport, Conn. / Staples) were each named to the second team. Nikopolidis joined classmate
Sean Zawadzki (Olmsted Falls, Ohio / Olmsted Falls) on the BIG EAST All-Freshman team.
Dodson is leading the team in scoring with 19 points on nine goals and one assist for the year.
Achara is second with six goals and one assist for 13 points. Zajec has three goals and is tied for a squad-best six assists for 12 points. Nealis rounds out the top four with a goal and a team-high tying six assists for eight points on the year. Nikopolidis has played in 14 games and tallied 52 saves with a 0.81 GAA.
Providence hosted St. John's in a first round game on Saturday. Matt DePerro scored the eventual game winner in the 15th minute of play as Brendan Constantine and Kevin Vang both assisted the goal and earned their second assists of the season. Colin Miller only had to make one save in his ninth shutout of the season. Providence holds a 4-8 record in the semifinals with the last three matchups all coming against Creighton. The team is 1-1 in a semifinal as the No. 3 seed facing the No. 2 seed.
The Hoyas are 16-13-3 overall and 7-8-1 at home all-time against the Friars. Earlier this season, Georgetown downed Providence in Rhode Island, 2-1, on goals form
Foster McCune (Bethesda, Md. / St. Albans School) and the game winner by Dodson in the 89th minute. The last meeting on the Hilltop was a scoreless double overtime tie during the 2017 season.
The Hoyas are 15-19-5 overall in the BIG EAST Tournament and 9-1-1 at home as well as 6-7-1 in the semifinal game. Georgetown is 1-1-1 all-time against the Friars in the tourney, tying the last meeting in the 2013 semifinal, 0-0, but failing to advance on kicks. GU's tournament win was a 1-0 double overtime victory during the 1998 season.
On Tuesday, Georgetown moved back into the national rankings sitting at No. 19 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll and No. 15 in the TopDrawerSoccer.com Poll. Additionally, the squad moved up to 16 in the RPI.
Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on the BIG EAST Digital Network (BEDN) with John Fanta, Monika Moore and Marisa Pilla calling the action. Live stats will be available at
www.GUHoyas.com.
To watch BEDN, download the FOX Sports GO app for iOS, Android, Kindle Fire tablets and phones and select Windows devices to view BEDN games on-the-go. The app also 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.
The winner of Wednesday's contest will play the winner of No. 1 Creighton and No. 4 Marquette at the home of the higher seed on Sunday at 2 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast nationally live on FS2.
