WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Top-seed Georgetown battled back from a one-goal deficit to defeat No. 3 seed Providence, 3-1, at home on Shaw Field to win the 2019 BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Championship title, their third consecutive trophy and fourth in five years.
The Hoyas (15-1-3) will receive the BIG EAST Conference’s automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament. Providence, as well as a few other hopeful BIG EAST teams, will hope to hear their names called as at-large selections in the tournament selection show which will take place at 1 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 18 on NCAA.com.
Georgetown becomes the third team to win at least three straight BIG EAST Tournament titles (2017, 2018, 2019). The last team to win at least three championship titles in a row was St. John’s from 1992-95. Seton Hall won three in a row in 1986, 1987 and 1988.
Georgetown junior midfielder Jack Beer was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Offensive Player after he scored game-winning goal off free kick. Beer also assisted the insurance goal to give the Hoyas the 3-1 final score.
“This never gets old, it’s great. I get a little emotional because every time you come through and win one of these, there are certain people who do something above and beyond and we had a whole lot of those guys today,” remarked Georgetown head coach Brian Wiese. “ It was one of the poorest first halves we’ve had and a lot of that is a credit to Providence. We knew how good they could be, and we said at halftime if we want to show we are one of the best teams in the country, we’ll make them regret only taking one on us in that first half.”
No. 1 Georgetown 3, No. 3 Providence 1
The Friars got on the board first as a ball was slipped to Tiago Mendonca at the left corner and he shot at the far post to make it 1-0 in the 14th minute. PC continued to push as Georgetown struggled to find a good look. Each counter was stopped by a strong Friar defense. The teams went into the half with Providence leading 1-0. Everything changed in the 56th minute when Jacob Montes was taken down just inside the box resulting in a penalty kick. Freshman Dante Polvara, who had secured the trip to the championship in PKs on Thursday, stepped up and buried it again to tie the game at one As the game picked up and began to get more physical, it was Georgetown that looked the stronger side. The game winner came in the 73rd minute on a free kick just outside the box in the middle of the pitch. Junior Jack Beer hit a perfect ball past PC keeper Austin Aviza to give the Blue & Gray the lead. Just a minute later, the Hoyas struck again as Beer passed it to freshman Will Sands who slipped the ball to junior Derek Dodson at the left post. Dodson had the angle and connected to put the game away making the final 3-1. Georgetown outshot Providence 17-12 (7-6 SOG) and both squads attempted a pair of corner kicks. Sophomore Giannis Nikopolidis had a solid game in the game with five saves and the victory, while Aviza took the loss with four saves in the contest. Georgetown senior defender Dylan Nealis earned BIG EAST Championship Most Outstanding Defensive Player.
2019 BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Championship All-Tournament Team
Brandon Guhl, Butler
Rhys Myers, Butler
Tani Oluwaseyi, St. John’s
Rafael Bustamante, St. John’s
Paulo Lima, Providence
Esben Wolf, Providence
Tiago Mendonca, Providence
Sean Zawadzki, Georgetown
Dante Polvara, Georgetown
Dylan Nealis, Georgetown
Jack Beer, Georgetown
Most Outstanding Defensive Player: Dylan Nealis, Georgetown, Sr., D
Most Outstanding Offensive Player: Jack Beer, Geogetown, Jr., M
2019 BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Championship
Presented By Jeep
First Round – Nov. 9 - BEDN
No. 3 Providence 3, No. 6 Marquette 0
No. 5 seed Butler 1, No. 4 seed Creighton 0
Semifinals - Nov. 13 - BEDN
No. 1 Georgetown 2, No. 5 Butler 2 (2OT) ^
No. 3 Providence 2, No. 2 seed St. John’s 1
Final - Nov. 17 – FS2
No. 1 Georgetown 3, No. 3 Providence 1
^ Georgetown advanced on PK’s, 4-3
All times Eastern - All games played at the higher seed