In All-Time Title Game, Georgetown MSOC Refused to Be Denied
By John Fanta
Special to BIGEAST.com
CARY, N.C. - It was everything you could want in a championship game. An early haymaker, followed by a prompt counterpunch. Two outstanding defenses, who met their matches on the biggest stage. Stars rising to the occasion, outdoing each other a countless number of times. Two teams who more than proved they belonged at the top of men’s college soccer.
The 2019 NCAA Men’s Soccer National Championship Game was so good, 90 minutes weren’t enough to decide it. 110 minutes weren’t either. Not even five penalty kicks were.
On this night in Cary, the 8,000-plus fans at WakeMed Soccer Park were treated to one of the all-time finals in college soccer history, and a champion who would not be denied, the Georgetown Hoyas.
Winning the school’s first national title, Georgetown’s run came in epic fashion. After beating Stanford, the best program in the sport in the last half-decade, in the semifinal, the Hoyas looked destined to hoist the trophy with just nine minutes remaining. It felt like a Hollywood script. Senior forward Achara fed junior forward Derek Dodson for his 11th goal of the season. The two stars were going to fittingly seal the deal. And yet, what felt like destiny turned the other way just five minutes later, when Virginia star Daryl Dike scored his third goal of the College Cup to level the score at three again.
It had Hoya fans clamoring. “If not now, then when?” one questioned in the stands. “What more can we do to win?” added another.
As the clock hit zero in regulation, a vibe of restlessness filled WakeMed. The tension was palpable. Yet, the Hoyas remained unfazed, following what their head coach said earlier in the week.
“We didn’t just come here to be here,” said Brian Wiese on Thursday. “We came here to win the whole thing. And if we’re going to do that, why not go through the best of the best?”
The Hoyas rose above the best punches thrown at them, and showed their depth while doing it. After Achara and Dodson combined for the heroics in regulation, neither took a penalty kick in the 7-6 victory. Four of Georgetown’s normal players in the rotation couldn’t go due to fatigue or injury. Instead, it was underclassmen who took the torch from the seniors, and stepped up perfect from the penalty mark. To cap it off, rookie keeper Tomas Romero diving to his right and stopping Virginia’s Axel Gunnarsson’s shot, sending Cary into “Hoya Paranoia.”
“This was storybook stuff,” said Wiese. “The resilience and grit of this group showed again tonight. I’m just overjoyed for these players.”
The ‘storybook’ thought from Wiese couldn’t be more true in the case of Daniel Wu. The Georgetown freshman had not scored a goal in the Blue and Gray all season entering Sunday night. The first-year Hoya saved his best for a return to his hometown. Wu, a Cary native, gave Georgetown a 2-1 lead off a scramble in the box in the 22nd minute.
“My teammate Rio (Hope-Gund) and I were talking a few weeks back about where my first goal could come,” said Wu. “He told me I would score in a big moment. I couldn’t have dreamed of this.”
That wasn’t the only dream to come true for the Hoyas.
Senior Dylan Nealis finished the job that his brother, Jimmy, started. Jimmy and his 2012 teammates were there. That year, the Hoyas made it all the way to the national championship game before coming up just short to Indiana in a 1-0 defeat. Dylan, the College Cup Defensive Most Outstanding Player, had made it his goal to complete the task long before his time at Georgetown.
“When he committed to us as a junior in high school, Dylan told me he wanted to help lead us to a national championship,” said Wiese, who smiled, ready with a joke. “I’m just glad he figured it out, because he almost ran out of time.”
The theme of depth cannot be overstated with this Georgetown team. While Virginia used three reserves in the match, the Hoyas brought in eight off the bench.
“It’s been a remarkable run because we haven’t had to rely on a certain core of players,” said Wiese. “Our core isn’t 11 or 12 players. The core group for us literally become 18 or 19 guys. It’s not something that I’ve ever experienced in my coaching career, to have that true depth that you inherently trust.”
That trust in place from the Hoyas’ 14th-year head coach continually was given right back to him by whoever the 11 were on the field for this program-best 20-win title team.
“He’s like a second father to us,” said Nealis of Wiese. “Using our depth on the bench, it came up clutch again today. I’m so happy for him.”
Wiese entered the week getting asked about leading the one team of the four who had not won a national championship before. He’ll never have to do that again. Georgetown backed up the season they put up, not just for them, but for the second-ranked conference in the national RPI, the BIG EAST.
“The BIG EAST showed everyone just how good of a league it is this year,” said Hoya junior Paul Rothrock, who scored in the 16th minute to tie the game at one apiece. We showed that our conference belongs.”
“If you’re going to win the whole thing, it’s wonderful to do it going through the competition we just saw,” added Wiese. “We feel like won the Pac-12 in this thing by beating Stanford, then the ACC by getting past Virginia. I just go back to how happy I am for the people who believed in us through the years.”
In the big picture, Nealis and his six senior classmates laid the foundation for a new standard in the program.
“This is just the beginning,” said Nealis. “I feel bad for getting on the underclassmen this season, but I just hope those lessons pay off for more wins in the future. I think they will.”
While the Hoyas are enjoying this moment, Wiese enjoys the idea of the bar getting raised for Georgetown Soccer to an even high level.
“Now we have an expectation that we have to manage, and that’s what the future is about,” said Wiese before pausing and smiling.
“But we have this moment forever.”
On the Hilltop, it will never be forgotten.