Men's Soccer Gets Comeback Road Win in Wild BIG EAST Opener at Georgetown, 3-2

Saturday, September 15

Washington, DC

1 PM

Xavier University

3-0-3

No. RV/8 Georgetown

3-2-1

Xavier

Georgetown

Men's Soccer Gets Comeback Road Win in Wild BIG EAST Opener at Georgetown, 3-2

09.15.18 | Men's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Season Stats (PDF)

By: Brendan Bergen, Xavier Athletic Communications

CINCINNATI – Xavier men's soccer came-from-behind, getting three goals in the second half to defeat Georgetown 3-2 in a thrilling BIG EAST opener on Saturday at Shaw Field.

Cameron Belle, Jacob Goodall and Tomek Pauer all scored for the Musketeers after the break, helping XU overcome a 1-0 deficit at halftime in a back-and-forth second half. Belle's 65th minute equalizer was his first career goal, while Goodall got his first tally of the season in the 78th minute.

Matt Nance had a career-high three assists, playing a part in all of Xavier's scoring in the second half.

In goal, Zachary Nelson allowed one goal on a penalty kick and made a career-high seven saves in a solid effort. His goals against average for the season is now 0.50.

Overall, the win moved XU to 3-0-3 on the season and continued the strongest start by a Xavier team since 2012. Georgetown dropped to 3-2-1 with the loss.

Xavier now leads the all-time series against the Hoyas, 5-4.

NEXT UP

• Xavier returns home to continue BIG EAST action on Friday, September 21 when St. John's visits XU Soccer Complex. First touch is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. Stay tuned to GoXavier.com and follow @XavierMSOC on Twitter for the latest updates.

HOW THEY SCORED

44' | Georgetown 1-0 | Kyle Zajec gave the Hoyas the lead, finishing left on a penalty kick just before halftime.
65' | Tied 1-1 | Cameron Belle got a head on a curling cross by Simen Hestnes, finishing near the middle of the goal for his first career goal. The play was set up beautifully via a long pass to the left flank by Cameron Taylor, which found a streaking Matt Nance to advance the ball to Hestnes.
78' | Xavier 2-1 | Matt Nance curled one into the box from the left corner, which the Georgetown keeper was able to punch out. The rebound fell right to the foot of Jacob Goodall, however, who roofed a shot from the right side to give Xavier the lead. It was his first goal of the season.
85' | Tied 2-2 | Rio Hope-Gund equalized for Georgetown, re-directing a header off a corner kick by Kyle Zajec.
86' | Xavier 3-2 | Tomek Pauer flicked a header from six yards out, clinching the match with his second goal of the season. The sequence began on a free kick by Matt Nance, which found the head of Taylor Crull before Pauer finished it off. Nance picked up his third assist of the match on the play.

NOTABLE

• Cameron Belle scored an equalizer for XU in the 65th minute for his first career tally.
• Matt Nance had a big day, assisting on all three Xavier goals (a career-high) including a skillful free kick in the 86th minute to set up the game-winner.
• Taylor Crull also had an assist on the game-winner, his first point in a Xavier uniform.
• Simen Hestnes assisted on XU's first goal to give him his team-leading 11th point of the season (4g, 3a).
• Xavier is unbeaten in six matches to start the season for the first time since a program record 14-match unbeaten streak to start the 2012 season.
• Balanced offense has become a hallmark for Xavier under Andy Fleming and the team already has eight different players with an assist this season as well as eight different goal scorers.
• XU is outshooting its opposition 102-57 this season. XU also holds a 39-26 edge in shots on goal.
• Xavier conceded two goals in a match for the first time this fall. The Musketeers had begun the season with four shutouts in five matches and have only allowed three goals in six matches overall.
• Redshirt sophomore Zachary Nelson set a new career-high with seven saves in the match. Nelson now has a 0.50 GAA on the year and four clean sheets in six outings.
• Head coach Andy Fleming moved to 95-48-27 since taking over at Xavier and is now just five wins from 100 in his career.
• Xavier took the advantage in the all-time series against Georgetown, 5-4.

COACH FLEMING'S COMMENTS

" This was one of the better road wins we've had in a while and was reminiscent of some of the great X teams of the past. I think we needed to grind out a game like this and our best teams we've had here have always had a result like this as a catalyst for bigger things later on."

"I thought in the first 25 minutes we looked like we had played Tuesday and they looked like a rested home team. We did well to regroup at halftime and were buoyed by a big goal by Cam Belle and then great performances and leadership by our seniors down the stretch. This caps a good week for us with two results against top programs. However, we are one third of the way through and will look to avenge last years road loss to St John's next Friday."

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