#BEfútbol Minute – Hoyas Clinch Playoff Berth, Take Over No. 1 Spot In The Standings
NEW YORK – The Georgetown Hoyas took over the top spot in the men’s soccer BIG EAST standings with a 3-0 win over No. 4 St. John’s in a Top 10 showdown Wednesday night in Queens. No. 7 Georgetown’s win advanced the Hoyas to 5-0-1 in the conference, earning 16 points with three games left to play. The win also secured Georgetown’s place as one of the six teams who will play in the 2019 BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Championship Presented By Jeep, Nov. 9, No. 13 and Nov. 17.
The win for the Hoyas in front of a sellout crowd of 2,305 at Belson Stadium was the fifth in a row. It was also the sixth consecutive shutout for Georgetown. The Hoyas have only allowed one goal in six league games. The loss was the first for St. John’s in league play and only the second this year. The Red Storm falls to 5-1-0 with 15 points. Prior to last night, St. John’s had also only allowed one goal in the five previous BIG EAST games.
Moving up into third in the standings are Providence, Creighton and Marquette. All three schools won Wednesday night as well and are tied with nine points each and identical 3-3-0 records. The Friars defeated Villanvoa, 2-0, Creighton defeated DePaul, 1-0 and Marquette knocked Butler out of third place with a 3-2 decision.
Butler sits alone in sixth place with seven points and a 2-3-1 record. The Bulldogs would be the last team in the tournament if the season ended after Wednesday night’s games.
Xavier defeated Seton Hall, 2-1, to move out of last place and into a three-way tie for seventh with six points with DePaul and the Pirates. Villanova rounds out the standings with four points (1-4-1).
BIG EAST men’s soccer continues this weekend with four games Saturday and one on Sunday. The final non-conference games of the season will be played on Tuesday with Seton Hall against Army West Point and Xavier against UNC Asheville.
PROVIDENCE 2, VILLANOVA 0
In the 18th minute Danny Griffin gave the Friars a good chance to score off a shot 20 yards out that was saved by a diving Carson Williams. The Friars took the lead, 1-0, in the 26th minute on a goal by Griffin. Trevor Davock (Medway, Mass.) threw the ball in to Paulo Lima, who dished the ball out through traffic to Griffin. Griffin finished the ball into the upper right corner of the net. Lima scored an insurance goal in the 60th minute to give Providence a 2-0 lead. Joao Serrano crossed the ball off a corner kick into the goal area that Lima tipped in with his left foot. Providence outshot the Wildcats 18-10 and held the advantage in corner kicks, 6-4. PC keeper Austin Aviza recorded his third BIG EAST shutout and sixth of the season overall. He had three saves.
XAVIER 2, SETON HALL 1
Xavier scored first off the head of senior Samson Sergi just minutes into the second half. An off ball played by Derrick Otim from the right, Sergi headed it in. Otim's pass was set up off a Jacob Bernsen throw in as both players were credited with an assist. In the 65
th minute, freshman Noah Boffo scored off a ball that ricocheted off the hands of the Seton Hall goalkeeper. Classmate Karsen Henderlong was credited with an assist as his shot on goal set up the goal by Boffo. Seton Hall scored in the 69th, as Carton Mackenzie scored his third goal of the year. Xavier redshirt-junior Matthew Rosenberg (6-6-1) made four saves on the night, increasing his season total to 64.
No. 7 GEORGETOWN 3, No. 4 ST. JOHN’S 0
Georgetown used a big first-half effort to blank the Red Storm 3-0 on Wednesday in a first place BIG EAST Conference showdown at Belson Stadium. The Hoyas dominated possession throughout the first half as the midfield managed to disrupt every Red Storm attack. Georgetown got on the board in the 23rd minute as Jacob Montes had a free kick from just outside the box, which he hooked in over the wall to the top corner of the net to make it 1-0. Less than a minute later, a quick give-and-go from Dylan Nealis and Derek Dodson resulted in Nealis burying the goal to put the Blue & Gray ahead by two. Early in the second half, freshman goalkeeper Tomas Romero was forced to come up with a pair of big saves facing his first tests of the evening. Georgetown added a third goal off of a setpiece in the 52nd minute. A header from Sean O’Hearn gave Achara the shot which was saved. The rebound went to Dodson who connected it in the open net to make it 3-0. Romero had four saves in the win to get the shutout. The SJU keepers tallied six saves and took the loss.
CREIGHTON 1, DEPAUL 0
Luke Haakenson's goal during the 81st minute lifted Creighton to a 1-0 win over DePaul. Haakenson hit the back of the net off a cross into the center of the box from Kuba Polat. Polat received the ball down the right side of box on a pass from Younes Boudadi before sending it towards the top of the six-yard box where Haakenson one-touched the ball past the DePaul goalkeeper for his team-leading fifth goal of the season. The goal marked Creighton's first since Sept. 29 against Villanova, as the Bluejays also snapped a three-match losing streak. Additionally, Wednesday marked Creighton's third shutout during BIG EAST play. The Bluejays finished the match with a 15-10 edge in shots and a 4-2 advantage in corners, while goalkeeper Paul Kruse collected three saves during his first shutout of the year and the team's third in BIG EAST play.
MARQUETTE 3, BUTLER 2
Marquette earned its second win in a row in league action on Wednesday night with the 3-2 win. The Golden Eagles scored twice in the first half to take a 2-1 lead into the break. Coming out of the halftime break, the Golden Eagles came out attacking and extended their lead to 3-1 in the 54th minute when Lukas Sunesson scored his second goal of the season. Josh Coan put a shot on net and Sunesson collected the rebound and tapped it home. The Bulldogs answered back with a goal from Brandon Guhl in the 67th minute, but MU's back line was able to hold them off for the final 24 minutes to seal the victory. MU sophomore goalkeeper Cedrik Stern made several highlight saves to keep the Bulldogs at bay. He finished with a game-high seven saves as he moved to 3-2-0 as the starting keeper this season. The first half goals were scored by Marquette’s Patrick Seagrist and Josh Hancock and Butler’s Wilmer Cabrera Jr.
#BEfútbol Results
Wednesday, Oct. 23
PROVIDENCE 2, VILLANOVA 0
XAVIER 2, SETON HALL 1
No. 7 GEORGETOWN 3, No. 4 ST. JOHN’S 0
CREIGHTON 1, DEPAUL 0
MARQUETTE 3, BUTLER 2
Upcoming #BEfútbol Schedule
** ALL SATURDAY GAMES WILL AIR ON BEDN **
Saturday, Oct. 26
MARQUETTE at No 7 GEORGETOWN, 1 p.m.
XAVIER at DEPAUL, 2 p.m.
CREIGHTON at PROVIDENCE, 3 p.m.
No. 4 ST. JOHN’S at SETON HALL, 6 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 27
VILLANOVA at BUTLER, 1 p.m.
All times listed are Eastern.