Georgetown scored the winner 3:43 into the overtime session.
WASHINGTON -- Eighth-seeded Georgetown (14-4-4) needed just three minutes and 43 seconds in overtime to seal a victory and a trip to the quarterfinals for the second time in program history with a 2-1 overtime victory against the No. 9 seed Syracuse (16-4-1) in the third round of the 2014 NCAA tournament at Shaw Field on Sunday. Senior defender Jared Rist scored the game winner, along with his first-career goal, and senior midfielder Tyler Rudy added a pair of assists.
"The fact that we were able to equalize with 10 minutes to play on a corner, which has been our Achilles' heel all season, says a lot about this team," Georgetown head coach Brian Wiese said. "They didn't want it to end today, they were talking about that at halftime and talking about that heading into the overtime. This time of year, your seniors tend to carry you and that was the case today."
Georgetown, who had not scored on a corner kick all season, tied it up on a corner in the 80th minute. Just 3:43 into overtime, Rudy sent another corner to Rist at the far post who expertly headed it inside the post to give GU the 2-1 victory and end the game.
The Hoyas will play the winner of 16th-seeded Virginia against top-seeded Notre Dame in the quarterfinals.
Georgetown started strong with a pair of good looks from junior defender Keegan Rosenberry and sophomore forward Alex Muyl. After a post and a save, Syracuse got going as junior defender Josh Turnley saved an SU shot off the line on a corner to keep it scoreless.
After Syracuse possessed, sophomore midfielder Bakie Goodman took two touches at the top of the box and fired on target in the 30th minute, but Alex Bono made a diving fingertip save resulting in the Hoya corner. The Blue & Gray pressed with three-consecutive corners, and on the final one there was a scramble in front of the net, but no one could get it past the defense.
With four minutes to go in the half, a beautiful GU combination gave Rosenberry another great look, but a Syracuse defender used an outstretched leg to knock it out of harm's way.
A late free kick gave the Orange one last chance, but no one could find the answer resulting in the scoreless tie at the break.
The Orange were pressuring early on and the entire game changed in the 55th minute as Syracuse caught the defense off guard on a quick corner. Julian Buescher passed it in to Alex Halis who took a crafty touch to get around the Hoya defense and shot to the far post burying it to take the 1-0 lead.
Syracuse didn't let up after the goal with another run down the right side, and the Hoya offense couldn't get going to generate chances.
With 15 minutes left in regulation, another long shot sailed just over the crossbar in another dangerous look for the Orange. Minutes later, a miscue gave SU another wide open chance as the Hoyas were on their heels.
Despite a quiet second half, Georgetown found a way in the 80th minute with a season milestone. A good series resulted in a corner kick for the Blue & Gray. Rudy sent a perfect ball to the back post and Rosenberry went high above the crowd to send it back into the net to tie the game at one. It was the first goal off of a corner kick of the season for the Hoyas in 129 tries.
Rudy had another chance minutes later sending a good ball to Rosenberry who crossed it back in, but the midfielder's shot went just high. Neither team was able to create another opportunity sending the game into overtime in a contest reminiscent of the squads' Sweet 16 meeting two years ago that resulted in a tie with GU advancing in penalty kicks.
Syracuse had the first look of overtime with a scramble in front of Georgetown's net that senior goalkeeper Tomas Gomez was able to collect.
The decisive goal came less than four minutes into the sudden-victory overtime and Rist played the hero to send the capacity crowd into a frenzy and catapult the Hoyas into the quarterfinals for the second time in program history.
The Hoyas outshot the Orange 15-10 and took nine corner kicks to Syracuse's four. Gomez was awarded the victory with two saves and the Hoya defense was also credited with a stop. Bono took the loss in the net for the Orange with four saves on the afternoon.
"Syracuse was fantastic, we played them two years ago in the tournament and they were way better attacking in the midfield this year, they were the best team we've played all year," Rist said.
