By Elliott Jones
WASHINGTON DC, Sept. 2—The Howard’s men’s soccer team opened the 2005 season with a 1-0 loss to local rival Georgetown in game two of the D.C. College Cup at Kehoe Field on the campus of Georgetown University. After ending regulation in a scoreless draw, Hoyas’ freshman Sean Bellomy scored 3 minutes into sudden-death overtime to secure the victory for Georgetown.
Howard’s defense was able to withstand consistent pressure from the Georgetown attack, and at the end of regulation were out-shot, 24-0. However a costly breakdown on Howard’s right wing allowed Bellomy to collect a centering pass from senior Jeff Curtain and knock it past senior goalkeeper Jason Williams. The goal was the first of Bellomy’s college career.
For much of regulation, Howard failed to create substantial offense chances. When they did apply pressure, Georgetown’s defense was able to recover and prevent them from getting off any shots, sending two or three-man swarms to disrupt the plays. Georgetown, on the other hand, squandered chance after chance until finally connecting in overtime. Of the Hoyas’ 28 total shots, only 5 were on target.
Despite the disappointing setback, Howard Coach Keith Tucker says he was proud of his team’s effort and noted the difficulty of playing the first game of the season on the road.
“We played the way I expected us to play on the first day,” said Tucker. “To play away from home and in this heat is challenging.”
He continued, “Georgetown knew the field better than us and used it to their advantage. We are used to playing on a more narrow field than this one.”
Howard got a stand-out performance in the loss from Williams, who had 4 saves.
Howard’s next match is Sunday against George Washington, also in the D.C. College Cup. The match gets underway at 12 noon.