WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University men's soccer team (12-4-3) earned the 13th overall seed in the NCAA Tournament on Monday afternoon. The tournament consists of 48 where the top 16 teams are seeded and receive a first-round bye. This marks GU's seventh tournament berth in the past nine seasons and ninth overall.
The squad made history on Sunday winning the first back-to-back BIG EAST Championships in program history with a 2-0 victory over the Marquette Golden Eagles at Shaw Field. Georgetown is now the only school in BIG EAST soccer history where its men's and women's teams have won back-to-back championships. The win gives the Hoyas their third tournament title for the program.
The Blue & Gray has been in and out of the national polls all season. Last week, the team was No. 19 in the United Soccer Coaches' Poll and Georgetown moved to No. 15 in TopDrawerSoccer.com's poll on Monday.
The Hoyas have received a number of accolades this season with the squad earning one of the BIG EAST's top awards.
Junior defender
Dylan Nealis (Massapequa, N.Y. / Massapequa) was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year as seven different Hoyas earned BIG EAST season honors. Nealis joined sophomore forward
Derek Dodson (Aurora, Ill. / Waubonsie Valley) and junior forward
Achara (Enugu, Nigeria / Berkshire School [Mass.]) on the first team, while senior captains
Brendan McDonough (Matthews, N.C. / Charlotte Catholic) and
Kyle Zajec (Westport, Conn. / Staples) were each named to the second team. Goalkeeper
Giannis Nikopolidis (Athens, Greece / Nea Genia Zirdi) joined classmate
Sean Zawadzki (Olmsted Falls, Ohio / Olmsted Falls) on the BIG EAST All-Freshman team.
Georgetown's NCAA Tournament berth is the seventh under Head Coach
Brian Wiese who managed his 150th career victory on Sunday. The Hoyas have been to the tournament on eight previous occasions with five trips to the Round of 16 (2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 1997) and two to the quarterfinals (2014, 2012).
In 2012, the squad was the national runner up, falling to Indiana 1-0 in the national championship game. 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 8-5-5 overall in the NCAA Tournament.
The Blue & Gray will play the winner of West Virginia and LIU-Brooklyn who will meet on Thursday. Georgetown is 13-6-0 all-time against the Mountaineers with the last meeting coming in 2016, a 1-0 loss in a neutral-site contest. The Hoyas and Blackbirds have never met.
Kickoff for the second round will be on Sunday, November 18 at Shaw Field. Live stats and a free webcast featuring Dan Helfrich and Tom Greaser will be available at www.GUHoyas.com.