Georgetown facing Stanford tonight in NCAA Men’s College Cup semifinals

CARY, N.C. – The third-seeded Georgetown University men’s soccer team will take on the seventh-seeded Stanford University Cardinal national semifinals on Friday evening at 6 p.m. at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina. The nationally-ranked No. 2 Hoyas are currently 18-1-3 on the season and heading into the program’s second trip to the College Cup in history.

Follow the Action

• The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU with Glenn Davis and Devon Kerr calling the action.
• Live stats will be available at GUHoyas.com.  Fans can follow the in-game scoring on Twitter at @GUHoyasMSoccer.

How They Got Here

• GU team used a late second-half surge to pick up a 2-1 win over sixth-seeded Washington Saturday afternoon at Shaw Field.
• The game all changed in the 72nd minute when a foul at the top of the box gave GU a free kick.  Jacob Montes and Jack Beer lined up and Montes hit a banger curling around the wall and into the back of the net sending the 2,093 fans into a frenzy and tying the game at one.
• Georgetown had the momentum and capitalized as junior Rio Hope-Gund sent a long ball up the field to junior Derek Dodson.  The forward weaved through the defense and fired to make it 2-1.
• Freshman Tomas Romero picked up the win with three saves in the contest.
• In the previous two games, Georgetown downed Louisville 5-1 and Pitt 5-0 marking GU’s largest margin of victory ever in the NCAA Tournament.
• Senior captain Dylan Nealis was named a MAC Hermann Trophy finalist becoming just the second ever for the Hoyas.
• Nealis, Dodson and Montes were all selected as All-Americans on Friday with Nealis earning a nod to the first team and the other pair being named to the third team.
• Georgetown made history earlier this season with the program’s first three-peat winning the BIG EAST Championship for the third consecutive year in a 3-1 victory over Providence College at Shaw Field.  It was just the second time in program history that the squad has won both the regular season and the championship in the same year.
• Georgetown has been in the national polls all season.  The most recent RPI had the Hoyas at No. 2 and the United Soccer Coaches’ Poll put GU at No. 2.  Georgetown sat at No. 2 in TopDrawerSoccer.com’s most recent poll.

NCAA Tournament History

• Georgetown’s NCAA Tournament berth is the eighth under Wiese.
• The Hoyas have been to the tournament 10 times with now seven trips to the Round of 16 (2019, 2018, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 1997), three to the quarterfinals (2019,2014, 2012) and two to the College Cup (2019, 2012).
• In 2012, the team was the national runner up, falling to Indiana 1-0 in the national championship game.  They advanced after a 4-4 double overtime tie against Maryland.
• Prior to that season, the program had never moved beyond the second round of the tournament with previous appearances in 2010, 1997 and 1994.
• The Hoyas are 12-6-5 overall in the NCAA Tournament and 0-0-1 in the semifinals.
• The No. 3 seed ties the highest seed in program history.  Georgetown was the No. 3 overall seed in both 2012 and 2015.
• GU earned the BIG EAST’s automatic berth into the tournament as well as earning a first-round bye as one of the top 16 seeds.

About the Cardinal

• This is Stanford’s seventh all-time appearance in the College Cup, including its fourth in the last five seasons. The Cardinal is 3-1-2 all-time in the semifinals, most recently beating Akron 2-0 in 2017.
• Stanford advanced to the College Cup after winning PKs against second-seeded Clemson.
• The Cardinal are 14-2-5 on the season with its last loss coming against Cal on November 14 in the regular season finale.

Series with Stanford

• Georgetown is 2-0-1 all-time against the Cardinal, the teams have never met in the postseason.
• Last year the squads tied 1-1 in double overtime at Shaw Field as Ethan Lochner scored in the 65th minute, but Stanford answered back with a goal in the 88th.
• GU won the first meeting in 2011 1-0 in double overtime, and the Hoyas also took the second in 2013 with a 2-0 victory on the road.
• All three matchups have come in the Wiese era.  Wiese was an assistant coach at Stanford for five seasons under Bobby Clark earned his master’s degree there in product design (mechanical engineering) in 1998.