WASHINGTON  – It seemed the No. RV/16 Georgetown University men’s soccer squad (8-4-1) was inches from tying the No. 9/6 University of Maryland Terrapins (8-3-1) Tuesday afternoon at North Kehoe Field.  Having chance after chance in the second half it seemed one would finally have to find the back of the net.  However, after 90 minutes the Hoyas just couldn’t pull out the victory falling 2-1.

“They caused us some problems early on,” said Head Coach Brian Wiese.  “We let in two early goals that were soft, uncharacteristic goals but the boys responded well.  They kept fighting, no one hung their head.  If we had responded badly to a team like that, we could have been down five or six by the end of the game but we demonstrated resolve and got a goal.  Frankly, we were unlucky not to get more.”

Maryland struck quickly as Drew Yates headed in the first goal in the middle of the box in the eighth minute.  Less than four minutes later, the Terps hit their second of the game when Jason Herrick drove the ball to the left post off of a pass from Kaoru Forbess.  Trailing by two goals just 12 minutes in, the Hoyas regrouped and set their sights on a comeback.

The Blue & Gray began to get some chances but then suffered another setback as keeper Mark Wilber (Tijeras, N.M./Albuquerque Academy) was taken out of the game after a collision, forcing Matthew Brutto (Warrington, Pa./Central Bucks South) to come in cold off of the bench against the reigning national champs.

“Matty Brutto came in and did a great job for us,” said Wiese.  “Its tough mentally to not start the game and suddenly the guy in goal is knocked out and you have to jump into the fire.  We talk a lot about having two of the best goalkeepers in the country and how tough it is to decide who will play, but today is a day that you’re happy to have both because when Wilber came out injured, we didn’t miss a beat with Matty.”

The changed sparked something as the Hoyas began to attack.  In the 32nd minute, GU finally got back in the game as freshman Jimmy Nealis (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) scored his first career goal.  The freshman fired from the left side after Chandler Diggs (Coppell, Texas/Coppell) had poked it out to him from the post making the score 2-1.

Georgetown gained momentum from the goal and continued to look dangerous as the first half came to a close.  The Hoyas had six shots in the first to Maryland’s 10 and each team was awarded a corner kick.

Opening the second half, the Blue & Gray took control of the pace as Maryland settled into a defensive scheme.  The Hoyas had chance after chance but weren’t on target knocking a number of shots wide or high.  In the second half, Georgetown outshot Maryland 12-2 and seemed to spend the entire half on offense but couldn’t connect.

With time winding down, Georgetown had some solid runs but couldn’t find the back of the net as the team fell 2-1.

“We outshot them 12-2 and out-cornered them 4-1 which was indicative of the way the second half went, we just needed a little luck and ran out of time,” said Wiese.

The Hoyas outshot the Terps 18-12 and took five corners to Maryland’s two.  Wilber had four saves and Brutto added one, while keeper Zac MacMath made two saves for the game.

“I give credit to Maryland because even with a depleted squad they found a way to win and that’s why they’re the reigning national champs,” said Wiese.  “Fifteen minutes into the game I turned to the bench saying that we’re playing well but losing 2-0, but we had some of our best stretches of the year late in the game and as a coach you take that performance away from it.”

The Hoyas will jump right back into BIG EAST play on Saturday with a conference road game at Marquette.  Kickoff is scheduled for 8:05 p.m. ET at Valley Fields.  Live stats will be available at www.GUHoyas.com.