Hurtado, Sanner score as Tigers fall to No. 19 Hoyas

Sophomore forward Nico Hurtado picked up Sunday afternoon where he left off in his last match, scoring the first goal of the contest to put the Tigers up 1-0. But like last Wednesday’s match against Loyola, the men’s soccer team wasn’t able to maintain its lead over No. 19 Georgetown, as the Tigers (1-4) fell on the road 3-2 Sunday afternoon to the defending national runner-up.

Looking to defeat the Hoyas (6-2) for the first time in their six meetings, the Tigers began the first 30 minutes of the match on an even keel with the Hoyas, with both teams netting one goal. The contest’s beginning was nothing like last year’s meeting between the two at Roberts Stadium, when the Hoyas dominated possession and pace of play for all 90 minutes.

“Today was a tough loss; we didn’t get a lot of chances,” Hurtado said. “Georgetown’s a really good team, especially being the national runner-up from last year. But the first half was even today; we got the first goal and thought, as a team, that goals would follow goals.”

The Tigers struck first in the 23rd minute, as senior defensive midfielder Chris Benedict served the ball from the right side to Hurtado, who fired it into the top-left corner for his second goal of the season. But the Tigers’ lead was short-lived, as the Hoyas took less than two minutes to respond with a goal from Steve Neumann. Georgetown forward Alex Muyl fed Neumann on a give-and-go at the corner of the six, which Neumann fired far post to even the match.

Georgetown’s Brandon Allen put the Hoyas up with just over 10 minutes before halftime, as his free kick from 20 yards out ricocheted off the left post and senior goalkeeper Seth MacMillan into the net. The goal gave the Hoyas’ offensive star 14 points through his first eight games of the season.

“We just fell asleep after scoring the first goal,” Hurtado said. “After being down 2-1 at the end of the first half, we knew we needed to be more mentally into it after scoring goals. This was the second straight game where we scored first and then gave up multiple goals. We know we need to manage our leads better.”

The Tigers came back strong in the second half, refusing to let the Hoyas build on the momentum they built during the first 45 minutes of the match. Despite shots and opportunities going back and forth, further scoring did not come until the last 15 minutes. It was in the 75th minute that sophomore forward Thomas Sanner found himself on a one-on-one with Georgetown keeper Tomas Gomez. Just out of the reach of Georgetown’s defense, Sanner made a quick move to beat Gomez to the left side of the net for his second goal of the season. The Hoyas took Gomez out after he gave up his second goal of the day, replacing him with senior keeper Keon Parsa.

Once again, the Hoyas responded quickly to the Tigers’ strike. Just as the game clock marked the beginning of the 80th minute, the Hoyas’ junior defensive-mid Tyler Rudy got hold of the ball at the top of the 18 and finished past MacMillan on the right side for the game-clinching goal. While it was the third time the Tigers have surrendered three goals this season, the team is building confidence in its defense.

“Our defense did pretty well today. Georgetown’s best two players are really good, so you can’t put all the blame on them,” Hurtado said. “Generally we defended well, but we had mental lapses that cost us those goals. At other time we couldn’t handle their pressure as well as we could have, but defensively our team has made a lot of improvements lately.”

After playing four of their first five games on the road, the Tigers look forward to playing three of their next four games at Roberts Stadium. They will take on Florida International and Florida Gulf Coast next Friday and Saturday, respectively. Head coach Jim Barlow has stressed the importance of maintaining a positive outlook over the coming weeks.

“Our coaches don’t want us to lose our confidence and turn on each other because we’ve lost a few games so far,” Hurtado said. “We still want to go undefeated at home this year, and winning these next two games can definitely get our confidence up. At this point we just need to focus on the Ivy League schedule. We’re feeling good and know that we can win the league for sure if we keep playing well.”