No. 3 Georgetown men’s soccer falls to No. 2 UConn, 2-1

The No. 3/9 Georgetown University men’s soccer team suffered its first loss of the season on Wednesday with a tough 2-1 BIG EAST Blue Division decision to the No. 2/2 University of Connecticut Huskies (10-0-1, 3-0-0). Georgetown looked good for a majority of the game, but two lapses allowed the Huskies to strike. The Hoyas are now 10-1-1 on the season and 2-1-0 in BIG EAST Conference play.

“It was frustrating, because we did what we wanted to do today,” said Georgetown Head Coach Brian Wiese. “I didn’t have much to tell the guys at halftime because we were running the game we wanted to run it. The positive is that we forced their goalkeeper to make some highlight-reel saves, but the negative is that we should have finished our chances.”

The Hoyas controlled the pace for the first half as the Blue & Gray dominated possession during the first 20 minutes. Georgetown had a number of good chances, but Connecticut goalkeeper Andre Blake made some impressive saves to keep it scoreless.

On their few possessions, the Huskies had been sending long through balls trying to free their front players, but the first goal came in a very different way.

The referee whistled an apparent handball on Georgetown keeper Keon Parsa (West Hills, Calif./El Camino Real) just outside the box giving UConn a golden opportunity. As the Georgetown defense was setting up the wall and Parsa was organizing the wall, the Huskies’ Mamadou Diouf took a quick restart into the empty net which was ruled a goal to make it 1-0.

Georgetown fought back, but the score would stand at the half.

The teams battled to start the second half, as both had opportunities. With a one-goal advantage, the Huskies packed in the defense crowding in front of the net.

UConn made it 2-0 in the 64th minute on another odd play. A Husky corner kick was hit low to a defender who served it into the box. Parsa went up in the air to punch it away, but was hit as Allando Matheson went to head it in as the ball sailed into the top right corner of the net.

The two-goal deficit seemed to spark the Blue & Gray who came right back down and attempted to counter. In the 66th minute, the Hoyas got one back on a beautiful play on the right side.

Sophomore midfielder Tyler Rudy (Olney, Md./Sherwood) found junior forward Steve Neumann (New Hope, Pa./Council Rock North) open in the corner. Neumann pass low into the box and hit the foot of a charging Andy Riemer (McLean, Va./Georgetown Prep) who confidently struck it past Blake to pull GU within one.

The Hoyas continued to serve balls into the box for the remainder of the game, but couldn’t come up with the equalizer. On the defensive end, the Huskies had a few late runs, but the defensive unit came up big as well as Parsa making some key stops down the stretch to keep Georgetown in the game.

The time went by took quickly and the Hoyas were unable to come up with a second goal making the final 2-1.

Georgetown outshot Connecticut, 18-14, with eight shots on goal to UConn’s six. The Hoyas also took eight corner kicks to Connecticut’s two. Blake was given the win with seven saves, while Parsa took his first loss of the season notching four stops.