Nov. 3, 2005

Final Stats

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Georgetown (10-8-1 overall) converted all three of its penalty kicks to advance to the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament. The Hoyas and Villanova (7-7-4 overall) played 110 minutes of soccer that ended in a 2-2 before the game was decided in a shootout here on Thursday afternoon.

Georgetown meets Connecticut on Sunday afternoon in Storrs.

After a relatively quiet first half that produced few quality scoring chances and no scores, the second half was something entirely different. Georgetown broke through at the 60:24 mark when Brent Plumley crossed the ball in front of the Villanova box to Ben Jefferson-Dow. Jefferson-Dow settled the pass and then lofted a shot over the arm of Wildcat goalkeeper Jason Friel (Dublin, Pa.) and into the top right corner of the net.

Freshman Joe Taylor (Southampton, Pa.) made a terrific individual play to pull the Wildcats even at the 68:31 mark. Taylor forced a Hoya turnover and took the ball in alone on Hoya goalie Andrew Keszler. He then tucked a low shot into the net and the game was even.

Less than two minutes later, Villanova surged in front. Senior Greg Winther (Langhorne, Pa.) gained control of the ball near the goal line, wide of the net. He managed to get the ball to sophomore Billy Whiteside (Manheim Township, Pa.) who was stationed in the front of the net. Whiteside tapped the ball past Keszler and the Wildcats owned their first lead of the day at the 70:43 mark.

Georgetown frantically pushed for the tying goal without much success until the 87th minute. Jeff Curtin picked up a loose ball near the top of the box and pushed it towards Mike Glaccum. Glaccum sent it towards Danny McAnally, who got a foot on the ball and pushed it into the net with 2:07 left in regulation.

Villanova produced the best scoring chances of the first overtime session, out-shooting the Hoyas 3-0 in the session. But the game remained tied. Georgetown sent two shots towards Friel in the second overtime yet did not score, thus setting up the shootout.

The Wildcats' Matt Sleece was the first shooter and his attempt went wide of the net. Curtin sent a low shot that beat Friel to put the Hoyas in front on Georgetown's first chance. Taylor sent a low shot into the net that Keszler stopped with his body. McAnally then sent a shot over Friel into the top left corner to give Georgetown a 2-0 edge. Keszler stopped Villanova's Charlie Rowan and then Tim Convey knocked in Georgetown's third attempt to end the match.

This marks the second straight year that Villanova's season ended in a Big East Tournament shootout against Georgetown. Last year the two teams played a 1-1 tie here at the Soccer Complex with the Hoyas advancing on penalty kicks.