The Georgetown Hoyas spoiled the St. John’s Men’s Soccer Team’s three-game unbeaten streak as the Johnnies fell to Georgetown 2-0 at Shaw Field, starting the Red Storm’s Big East road trip with a loss.
After a respectable 4-3-2 home-stand, where they earned a result in three consecutive games, St. John’s headed south from Queens to face the scorching hot Georgetown Hoyas. Georgetown entered Saturday night on a seven-game winning streak and had earned a result against three ranked opponents.
Georgetown continued its relentless offense to start the game, getting four clean looks at the St. John’s net within the first 15 minutes. Senior goalkeeper Alec McLachlan parried them away to get a breather for the Johnnies.
Things were looking bleak for the Johnnies, prompting Head Coach David Masur to make a substitution in the 13th minute. Freshman midfielder Guilherme Gomes trotted onto the pitch, replacing junior Jad Benjelloun.
Georgetown was still at it, as they kept piling on pressure and forcing the Red Storm into repeated errors. Eventually, St. John’s cracked, conceding the opening goal via an own goal, leaving the Johnnies with no one to blame but themselves.
The Hoyas were far from satisfied. They continued to display their attacking prowess, leading to more fouls and substitutions for the Red Storm. Just seven minutes after their first goal and following a series of Georgetown substitutions, the Hoyas struck again.
Junior midfielder Matthew Helfrich gifted the ball to the wonderfully alliterated Zach Zengue, who finished it off and gave the home team a 2-0 lead. Zengue’s conquests led him to be awarded the Big East Offensive Player of the Week title the following day.
The remaining ten minutes of the half were uneventful, allowing the clock to run out and both teams to regroup for the final 45 minutes.
St. John’s came in swinging for the second half, determined to erase the two-goal deficit. They barraged the Hoyas with a remarkable seven shots in the second half. Sadly, only one was accurate enough to force the Georgetown goalkeeper into a save. The Johnnies kept punishing Georgetown’s defense, but had nothing on the scoreboard to show for it.
Growing increasingly desperate, St. John’s continued to make substitutions and played in an increasingly attacking formation, but when the referee blew the final whistle, the Johnnies finished the game downcast, unable to capitalize on their numerous opportunities.
The Johnnies will keep their head up for the rest of their road trip and look to improve their 4-3-3 record. They will look to the Oct. 3 matchup against the Akron Zips as a bounce-back game, adjusting their game plan as they plan to neutralize their negative conference play record.
