WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University men's soccer squad (2-1-1) played to a 1-1 tie with the No. 10 and three-time reigning national champion Stanford University Cardinal (0-0-3) on a hot Monday afternoon in front of a near-sellout crowd at Shaw Field.  It was the second game of the squad's home opening weekend for the 2018 season. 
 
"It's frustrating when you play well enough to win with chances cleared off of the line and hitting the post, the volume of chances that we created today actually surprised me which is the positive of the weekend," said Georgetown Head Coach Brian Wiese.  "When you play Stanford, you're not playing the team, you're playing the program and we had to stay composed to limit mistakes.  I thought we did a pretty good job of that except for a few lapses."
 
Stanford had the early chances forcing freshman goalkeeper Giannis Nikopolidis (Athens, Greece / Nea Genia Zirdi) to come off of his line and punch a dangerous ball away, and with a Cardinal shot that banged off of the post.  The Hoyas answered as graduate student Matt Ledder (Falls Church, Va. / Gonzaga) sent one in from the top of the box that was blocked but sailed just over the crossbar.
 
Midway through the half, sophomore forward Derek Dodson (Aurora, Ill. / Waubonsie Valley) and junior forward Achara (Enugu, Nigeria / Berkshire School [Mass.]) combined for a pair of runs that gave the Hoyas quality chances, but keeper Andrew Thomas and the Cardinal defense stopped each threat. 
 
Achara continued to be on the offensive with deft touches resulting in significant chances, but the Stanford defense held GU scoreless.  Late in the period, the forwards combined again for senior midfielder Ethan Lochner (New York, N.Y. / Stuyvesant) who got around his defender but was called for diving as the Hoyas continued to pressure.  GU fought, but went into the half in a scoreless tie.
 
Georgetown dominated the beginning of the second half as the Hoyas had chance and chance, but were unable to finish.  With 25 minutes left in the half, freshman midfielder Sean Zawadzki (Olmsted Falls, Ohio / Olmsted Falls) slipped the ball to Lochner in the middle of the box.  He split a pair of defenders and knocked it to the far post as the Hoyas found the back of the net to make it 1-0.
 
The Hoyas kept pressing, but in the final five minutes Stanford came to life.  The team had a number of good chances as fouls and giveaways took GU out of the match.  In the 88th minute, a poor clearance was intercepted by Logan Panchot who sent it to Amir Bashti in the middle of the box.  He went to the far post and scored to tie the game at one and give the Cardinal its first goal of the 2018 season.  Georgetown was unable to recover, forcing the extra period.
 
Stanford had the first strike of overtime, but the golden chance came in the 96th minute when Achara freed himself from the defense and was 1v1 with Thomas.  What looked like the game winner was redirected just past the post thanks to the fingertips of Thomas to keep it tied.  Dodson would have one more chance in the period as his shot was saved off of the line by the defense to force the final 10 minutes.
 
The heat didn't slow either squad in the final period as freshman Zach Riviere (Piscataway, N.J. / Saint Joseph) entered the match and immediately had a chance that would have won the game but was stopped by an incredible save from Thomas.  On the other end of the pitch, Nikopolidis was forced to come up with a huge stop as both teams were searching for the victory.
 
The win would not come for either squad as the efforts still resulted in the 1-1 tie after 110 minutes of play. 
 
The Hoyas outshot Stanford, 29-16, and took 11 corner kicks to the Cardinal's four.  Nikopolidis had three saves in the contest, while Thomas and the Stanford defense combined for nine saves.  It marked the first goal Stanford has conceded in nine games as the Cardinal rides a 17-match unbeaten streak that carried over from a season ago.
 
The Hoyas will be back in action on Sunday at Shaw field as the squad hosts Yale University at 3 p.m.  Live stats and a webcast will be available at www.GUHoyas.com.