Georgetown downs Hofstra 3-0 in NCAA Tournament second round
WASHINGTON (Via Georgetown University) – The No. 2/1, and third-seeded, Georgetown University men’s soccer squad (16-2-2) defeated the Hofstra University Pride (14-7-0), 3-0, on Sunday afternoon in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Shaw Field. Senior forward Brandon Allen (Old Bridge, N.J./St. Joseph) made history scoring his 50th career goal to become the all-time leader in program history.
“There was a little bit of frustration from our guys today, we had some golden opportunities to get the second goal so that always leads to a little bit of tension,” said Georgetown Head Coach Brian Wiese. “Overall, we’re happy to be off and running in the tournament with a great result.”
The Hoyas were active on offense early scoring just five minutes into the contest. Junior forward Alex Muyl (New York, N.Y./Bard) popped a scoop pass through two defenders to junior midfielder Bakie Goodman (Sarasota, Fla./Pine View School for the Gifted) who sent it to sophomore forward Arun Basuljevic (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) in the middle of the box who shot to the right corner to make it 1-0.
In the 18th minute, the Hoyas had an attack as it looked like GU would find the second score. Basuljevic had a wide open run at speed that ricocheted off of the post. He got his own rebound and passed it to Goodman who was wide open, but the shot was saved by keeper Patric Pray to keep it a one-goal game.
Minutes later, junior defender Joshua Yaro (Santa Barbara, Calif./Cate School) came forward and bent in a ball that Pray laid out for coming up with another big stop.
Hofstra’s best chance came in the 35th minute when a ball was crossed in at an empty net as freshman goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski (Alamo, Calif./De La Salle) had been forced to come out to stop the attacker. Somehow, Marcinkowski came diving back and caught it not allowing the rebound to keep the one-goal advantage.
Late in the half, senior midfielder Melvin Snoh (Coatesville, Pa./Malvern Prep) was active with a pair of shots as the Hoyas went into the break leading, 1-0.
Hofstra controlled the first five minutes of the second half, but a Georgetown counter was once again stopped by the post as a wide open Allen was denied by the far post and the rebound went high.
Pray continued to keep the Pride in the game as a pair of shots from senior defender Keegan Rosenberry (Ronks, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) were both stopped with the keeper making stops from every angle.
In the 78th minute, the physical game boiled over with a straight red card to the Pride and a yellow issued to the Hoyas following a small skirmish at midfield. Georgetown went up a man for the remainder of the contest, but Hofstra was pressing for some tense minutes late.
In the 87th minute, Snoh was taken down on the left side of the box, and the referee immediately called the penalty kick setting up Allen’s historic goal giving GU the 2-0 lead. The senior buried it for his 50th to break Ben McKnight’s record set in 1995.
“It was nice for Brandon to take the all-time school record from Ben McKnight today, which is good because maybe that will open the floodgates for him. Congratulations to Brandon for that,” said Wiese.
The scoring wouldn’t be over as Hofstra worked to avoid the shutout. However, the Hoya defense stood strong and in the final 10 seconds, junior defender Joshua Yaro (Santa Barbara, Calif./Cate School) cleared it out to Muyl at midfield. The forward took a touch and fired in the final second as the ball sailed just under the crossbar to make the final 3-0.
Georgetown outshot Hofstra, 20-10, and took eight corner kicks while the Pride was awarded none. Marcinkowski tallied his ninth shutout of the season with three saves, while Pray had seven saves in the contest.
The Hoyas are 8-4-4 overall in the NCAA Tournament and 6-1 in their opening game.
Georgetown will play Boston College in the Sweet 16 at Shaw Field on Sunday, November 29. The Hoyas have secured home-field advantage through the quarterfinals. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m., at Shaw Field. Tickets will be available at the gate.
The game will be broadcast free on GUHoyas.com with Dan Helfrich and Tom Greaser calling the action. Live stats will also be available through GU’s athletic website.
