WASHINGTON – The No. 2/2 Georgetown University men's soccer team used an explosive first half to defeat the Creighton University Bluejays, 5-3, on Friday evening at Shaw Field in Georgetown's regular season home finale. With the win, the Hoyas improve to 14-1-1 overall and 7-0-0 in the BIG EAST, while the Bluejays drop to 11-1-5 for the season and 3-1-3 in the league.
Head Coach Brian Wiese
- "Creighton hasn't lost, so you have to understand the context of it: you have the two teams in the country that are leading the nation in goals, both with 47 going in. So now we have the bragging rights for at least one more day. But they ask a lot of questions of you. The chances they created, they had two penalties, that's a little bit of frustration for us that we let them back in the game. But I felt like our group was always going to be able to create a lot of chances, and the fact that we responded as quickly and as well as we did was pretty remarkable. I thought that was as entertaining a 45 minutes of soccer as you'll probably see. So hopefully everybody feels like they got their money's worth for that first half."
How it Happened
- The Bluejays attacked early when a giveaway in back gave Creighton a 2v1 as the ball found the back of the net to make it 1-0.
- The Hoyas got on the board in the ninth minute as Georgetown had two shots blocked before the ball was flicked to senior Matthew Van Horn by Tate Lampman and the midfielder fired to knot the contest at one.
- Just a minute later, the Blue & Gray would take the lead when freshman Terrance Reynolds passed it to senior Mateo Ponce Ocampo. He found junior Mitchell Baker in the middle of the box, and the forward connected to make it 2-1.
- Van Horn would strike again in the 18th minute after senior Eric Howard passed it to Ponce Ocampo who took it down the field. His final ball went to Van Horn who confidently fired as GU took the 3-1 lead.
- Two minutes later, it would be Reynolds with a goal of his own when Ponce Ocampo fired but Baker managed to redirect it to the Brentwood, Tennessee native as Shaw Field was bursting with excitement.
- The Bluejays were not going to go away quietly with Georgetown allowing a pair of Creighton penalties into the goal making the score 4-3 just 28 minutes into the match.
- Georgetown managed one more before the half when Jack Heaps danced with the ball at the top of the box and found senior Matthew Helfrich who took a touch and fired with his left foot.
- The goal was Helfrich's first-career goal and made it 5-3 at the break.
- After a wild first half, the second half was just as intense but without the scoring.
- Both teams were physical, but neither could score as the Hoyas hung on for the 5-3 victory.
Of Note
- Georgetown outshot Creighton 15-11 and had six shots on goal to the 'Jays' five.
- The Hoyas managed four corners in the game, while Creighton tallied two.
- Junior goalkeeper Charlie DeMarco took the win in the net with one save to his credit.
- This is the third time this season and the third time of his career that Van Horn has scored two goals in a contest. He has now scored a point in 12-consecutive matches.
- Helfrich's goal was the first of his career.
- The loss was the first for Creighton this season as the squad had entered the contest as one of only two unbeaten teams in the nation.
- The eight first-half goals is a new BIG EAST regular season high for a half since realignment.
- The last eight-goal half in BIG EAST play was the 1986 championship when Seton Hall scored six goals, and Boston College tallied two in the second half of an eventual 8-2 win. Georgetown Head Women's Soccer Coach Dave Nolan was a member of that SHU team.
Up Next
- The Hoyas will close out regular season play on Friday as the squad travels to Storrs, Connecticut to face the UConn Huskies.
- Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
- The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at GUHoyas.com.
