Men's Soccer Falls 1-0 in BIG EAST Semifinals at Top-Seeded Georgetown

Thursday, November 12

Washington, D.C.

2 P.M.

Xavier University

12-6-1

No. 1 Georgetown (Semifinals)

14-2-2

Xavier

Georgetown

Men's Soccer Falls 1-0 in BIG EAST Semifinals at Top-Seeded Georgetown

11.12.15 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

Musketeers await postseason fate, NCAA Selection Show on Monday

By: Brendan Bergen, Xavier Athletic Communications

WASHINGTON – For the second straight time this season, it came down to a breakaway counter as top-seeded Georgetown escaped with a 1-0 win against fourth-seeded Xavier on Thursday in the BIG EAST Semifinals at Shaw Field.

"Credit to Georgetown, that's a veteran team and a group of seniors that played in the national championship in 2012," said head coach Andy Fleming. "They've played several MLS teams in friendlies, they have guys who have represented their national teams and they're very mature tactically – as well as a legitimate national championship contender. They've gotten better since we played them last. Having said that, I thought we did enough to be in the game and sneak one in. I thought we bent, but didn't break. I thought we showed some resiliency. They were better than us today, but I thought we went toe-to-toe with them and they held on at certain junctures and we're definitely one of the top-25 teams in the country. Our body of work is there."

The Musketeers drop to 12-6-1 overall with the loss and now await their postseason fate, which they will learn during the 2015 NCAA Tournament selection show on Monday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. ET.

"This is a funny moment to manage as a coach, because you don't know if your season is over or you're going to keep going," said Fleming. "But I think ours is going to keep going. I think we're capable of advancing and competing and knocking some people off. There's no shame in us and we're going to train over the weekend and stay ready. I'm confident that if you break our team down from a numbers standpoint that there's enough there to play next week."

Georgetown goes to 14-2-2 after a 9-0 run through league play in the regular season and advances to the BIG EAST Championship match. The Hoyas will host that match on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET against the winner of tonight's other semifinal between No. 2 Creighton and No. 6 Providence.

Xavier controlled possession early and had the first two chances of the match on a nice takeaway in the GU half by Walker Andriot, but Andriot and Josh Grant were both blocked by the GU backline.

The Hoyas' veteran defense would continue to thwart a number of Musketeer opportunities throughout the match.

Sophomore Matt Vasquenza busted through the Georgetown backline off a long pass from Chris Moore in the 16th minute, beating BIG EAST Defender of the Year Joshua Yaro to earn an open look. J.T. Marcinkowski made a great reaction on the chance, however, knocking Vasquenza's ball away and starting a Hoya counter.

On the other end, Bakie Goodman found Brandon Allen with a centering pass and Allen beat Jaye to make it 1-0.

Georgetown really pressed for a second goal in the middle part of the half, but Xavier was able to keep it a one-goal match with some valiant defending by its back four – Chris Moore, Todd Pratzner, Cory Brown and Matt Nance – around the box.

XU had another quality look in the 35th minute when Alex Ridsdale layed a ball off for Andriot, but his shot went just wide right on a 19-yard bullet. Andriot would wind up leading the match with three total shots.

The Musketeers went into the half trailing 7-5 in shots, but came out pressing for the equalizer in the second half.

Nance took Xavier's first corner in the 54th, a ball that was batted out of bounds by GU. A second straight Nance corner led to a dangerous moment in the box, as Nance crossed a ball in off a rebound and found Pratzner – who headed it toward goal before a Hoya defender was able to clear it off the line.

In the 58th, Georgetown had perhaps its best look but Jaye made a brilliant play off the foot of David Witkoff.

Ridsdale had a clean look on a ball from Calum Latham in the 73rd, but his low-liner was smothered by Hoya keeper J.T. Marcinkowski – the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year.

During the closing minutes, Xavier manufactured a number of opportunities but couldn't find the equalizer.

Jaye made three saves, including two highlight-reel takeaways, but XU lost to an NSCAA Top-10 opponent for the first time since last year's Sweet 16 loss to Creighton.

The Musketeers went unbeaten in six of their last eight, including a win at No. 1 Creighton on Oct. 28.