"The guys grew up a bit from the Xavier game," said Georgetown head coach Brian Wiese. "It was a similar situation, and they used their experience from Xavier and applied it to this game. They showed some grit when it was necessary and came away from a road game against a very good Duke team with a win."
#HoyasWin
— Georgetown Soccer (@GUHoyasMSoccer) September 19, 2018
Georgetown 1
No. 9 Duke 0
Final#HoyaSaxa #SharetheW pic.twitter.com/M94LoUn5J6
The Hoyas dominated the first 10 minutes of play pressing the Blue Devils following a nine-day layoff for Duke because of Hurricane Florence. In the sixth minute, the defense caused a Blue Devil turnover and sent it down the field. Junior defender Dylan Nealis (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) nailed a cross and found the head of junior forward Achara (Enugu, Nigeria / Berkshire School [Mass.]) who finished in the left corner to put the Hoyas ahead, 1-0.
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Georgetown continued to look like the more aggressive side as the Blue & Gray had a number of good opportunities in the first half. Achara and sophomore forward Derek Dodson (Aurora, Ill. / Waubonsie Valley) combined for dangerous looks and sophomore midfielder Jacob Montes (Lake Worth, Fla. / Beaverton [Ore.]) added a hard shot that was saved.
BIG EAST ⚽️ Soccer ⚽️ In The Rankings
— BIG EAST Conference (@BIGEAST) September 18, 2018
➡️ Third Consecutive Top-10 Week For @HoyasWSoc
➡️ Highest Rank For @creightonmsoc Since 2016
Tune in to the Fall Sports Update in 🔟 Minutes!
The latest news and an interview with @XavierMSOC GK Zachary Nelson pic.twitter.com/JjunmGK30U
In the final minutes of the first half, freshman forward Luke Kiley (Dublin, Ohio / Dublin Coffman) played a strong ball into the box, but the ball was just ahead of his fellow Hoya as the Blue & Gray went into the half leading 1-0.
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Duke had more opportunities in the second half as the Hoyas searched for their insurance goal.
Meet our Starting XI for tonight. 1st career start for Nico Macri! pic.twitter.com/lG2YgcO8dI
— Duke Men's Soccer (@DukeMSOC) September 18, 2018
Georgetown continued to control the pace, but the Blue Devils whipped in a number of good balls forcing freshman goalkeeper Giannis Nikopolidis (Athens, Greece / Nea Genia Zirdi) to make some key saves.
Late in the contest, Achara slid a perfect ball to Dodson who was 1v1 with keeper Will Pulisic. Dodson forced Pulisic into a kick save to keep it a one-goal game.
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Despite not getting the second goal, the Blue & Gray played smart down the stretch and managed to hold the nationally-ranked Blue Devils to pick up the 1-0 road victory.
Georgetown outshot Duke, 16-10, and took three corner kicks while the Blue Devils were awarded two. Nikopolidis managed five saves in the net to receive the victory, while Pulisic was given the loss with four saves for the evening.
The Hoyas will return to Shaw Field and BIG EAST Conference play on Friday for a 3 p.m. matchup with the DePaul Blue Demons.
