Georgetown’s Brian Wiese tallies 100th victory as Hoyas down Marquette in BIG EAST Quarterfinal

WASHINGTON (Via Georgetown University) – Head Coach Brian Wiese garnered his 100th-career victory as the No. 8 Georgetown University men’s soccer team (12-3-4) downed the Marquette University Golden Eagles (8-6-4), 2-1, in a BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinal matchup at Shaw Field on Tuesday afternoon. The third-seeded Hoyas defeated the sixth-seeded Golden Eagles to advance to the tournament semifinals on Friday at PPL Park.

“I thought we started the game really well and then kind of hit the doldrums there in the middle of the first half,” said Wiese. “That’s because Marquette’s good enough to put you there. You started feeling like it was a midweek, afternoon game and we had to remind them that this is the BIG EAST Tournament and then we started out the second half terrifically well.”

The Hoyas had a solid chance early as unanimous First Team All-BIG EAST selection Brandon Allen (Old Bridge, N.J./St. Joseph) had a look in the middle of the box that was poked away by the MU defense.

Marquette answered back with possession in some dangerous situations as the GU defense continued to clear the ball out of the box.

In the 19th minute, senior midfielder Austin Martz (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) sprinted past the defense to meet the ball with the keeper beat, but the ball took a high bounce that allowed defender Axel Sjoberg to make a save on the goal line. In the ensuing play, Martz fired again and MU keeper Charlie Lyon laid out for the save.

The play continued to go up and down the field and the Golden Eagles then managed a chance with 15 minutes left in the half as a ball came from the near post out to Coco Navarro whose shot was just left.

The squads played out the final minutes of the half going into the break in a scoreless tie.

Early in the second, sophomore forward Brett Campbell (Wallingford, Pa./The Haverford School) had two golden chances as the first was a deflection that went to Campbell’s foot but was deflected high from just a few yards out. On the ensuing corner kick, Campbell got it again and headed it to the goal but hit the inside of the near post. The ball deflected in, but MU had midfielder Louis Bennett III there to take it off the line.

Georgetown continued to control the offense as junior defender Josh Turnley (Beaver, Pa./Beaver Area) had a chance from the left corner of the box.

Everything changed in the 60th minute as the ball came to junior midfielder Melvin Snoh (Coatesville, Pa./Malvern Prep) on the near side setting up a 3v2. Snoh crossed it perfectly past Allen and to BIG EAST Rookie of the Year Arun Basuljevic (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) wide open on the far side. Lyon came out to stop it, and Basuljevic fired back to the near post placing it in the corner to make it 1-0.

The lead didn’t last long, however, as a clearance took a bad touch and went back into the Hoya net resulting in an own goal to tie it back up in the 62nd minute.

The Hoyas regouped, and went right back down the pitch looking to regain their advantage.

In the 65th minute, BIG EAST All-Rookie selction Christopher Lema (Ridgefield, N.J./St. Stephen’s Episcopal School) received the ball near the far post. He crossed it through traffic and found Martz charging toward the net. The senior finished perfectly as the score went back in GU’s favor, 2-1, in a wild five-minute swing.

In the 70th minute, a corner kick gave MU opportunities in the box as the Georgetown defense battled to clear it. Second Team All-BIG EAST goalkeeper Tomas Gomez (Webster Groves, Mo./Webster Groves) finally fell on it to relieve the pressure.

On the other end of the field, Martz had another brilliant run resulting in a corner and a dangerous header from Second Team All-BIG EAST defender Keegan Rosenberry (Ronks, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) that was stopped by Lyon.

As the clock wound down, the Hoyas held on and managed the 2-1 victory.

GU outshot the Golden Eagles, 13-6, and took five corner kicks to MU’s three. Lyon had the loss with two saves, while Gomez took the win despite tallying no saves in the contest.

With the win, Georgetown advances to the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals and will face second-seeded Xavier University on Friday at PPL Park in Philadelphia, Pa. Kickoff will be either 6 or 8:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on the BIG EAST Digital Network for free.