Fall Sports Preview 2015:
Men’s Soccer: Defense Returns for 2015
FILE PHOTO: JULIA HENNRIKUS/THE HOYA
Entering its 2015 season, the No. 25 Georgetown men’s soccer team (1-2-1 overall, 0-0-0 Big East) boasted a defense that had the potential to be the envy of the NCAA. All four starters — seniors Cole Seiler, Josh Turnley and Keegan Rosenberry and junior Joshua Yaro — returned for the Hoyas, creating a back line to be reckoned with. In 2015, all four players became co-captains. The defense was expected to lead the way for a team with national championship ambitions.
Those expectations seemed warranted. Yaro was named Big East Preseason Defensive Player of the Year just prior to the start of the 2015 season. He could have been the No. 1 overall MLS draft pick had he not chosen to return to school. His talent has drawn the attention and praise of teammates, opponents and professional scouts.
Not to be overlooked, however, are the three seniors who have seen extended minutes on defense since 2013. Seiler and Rosenberry started for the Hoyas in the national championship game in 2012 and have been starters ever since. Turnley stepped into the starting 11 the following year. The experience gained by spending several seasons competing as college athletes is an extremely valuable asset.
Men’s Soccer: Season Preview
ERICK CASTRO/THE HOYA
In the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament, the Georgetown men’s soccer team (1-2-1) experienced a heartbreaking loss in penalty kicks to Virginia — a team that went on to win the 2014 National Championship.
Nonetheless, this loss had little impact on expectations for the Hoyas in their 2015 campaign. Georgetown was ranked third in the nation, and with the return of star junior defender Joshua Yaro despite the lure of Major League Soccer and a history of solid offensive production, Georgetown was set to be a powerhouse team on both sides of the field. Yaro and senior forward Brandon Allen were named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List, which compiles the players most likely to win the award for the best college soccer player in the nation. In addition, Yaro and Allen were named the Big East Preseason Defensive and Offensive Players of the Year, respectively.
Women’s Soccer: Revamped Offense Features Veterans
You cannot win if you do not score. This adage rings true in nearly all sports, but it holds a special significance in soccer, where goals are particularly hard to come by.
Fortunately, the Georgetown women’s soccer team (3-2-0) began its 2015 season with an offense that has had little trouble finding the back of the net. The Hoyas have scored 10 goals in just five games and have been shut out only once. Collectively, the team has already taken 80 shots, while its opponents have tallied only 42.
The team’s offensive success can largely be attributed to three dynamic forwards who have each stepped up to lead the Hoyas’ attack. For graduate student forward Audra Ayotte, junior forward Grace Damaska and senior forward Crystal Thomas, the statistics speak for themselves.
Women’s Soccer: Hoyas Adjust After Roster Turnover
FILE PHOTO: CLAIRE SOISSON/THE HOYA
In a season of considerable turnover, the Georgetown women’s soccer team (3-2-0) is looking to exceed expectations and prove that it can succeed.
“I think we’re slated for third [in the Big East] right now, so that bothers me a little bit,” senior midfielder Marina Paul said. Led by a solid group of upperclassmen including Paul, graduate student goalkeeper Emma Newins and senior forward Sarah Adams, the Hoyas will try to improve on last season’s 11-5-6 overall record. The team hopes to carry over its strong conference play from last season; it finished 6-1-2 against Big East opponents.
“We want to win the Big East in the regular season, and definitely want to win the tournament this year,” Newins said. “The past two years, we’ve lost in the finals, so it would be great if we could win the tournament and then make it as far as we can in the NCAAs.”
Football: Veterans Seek Elusive Success
FILE PHOTO: JULIA HENNRIKUS/THE HOYA
After finishing 3-8 in a difficult season, Georgetown’s football team (0-1) certainly has room for improvement. However, the team, led by second-year Head Coach Rob Sgarlata, is optimistic that it will find more success in 2015.
Senior quarterback Kyle Nolan, who threw for 1,763 yards and nine touchdowns last year, is back to lead the team in his final season.
“[Nolan] has done a great job in the past year and a half to learn and understand quickly what this offense is all about. He’s been here for the past two summers working extremely hard to improve his game in all aspects, and he’s been a great leader while doing that, in the weight room and on the field and in the film room,” Offensive Coordinator Michael Neuberger said.
Football: DeCicco, Hill Take on Leadership Roles
In his second season as head coach for the Blue and Gray, Georgetown’s football Head Coach Rob Sgarlata will rely on several talented veterans as the Hoyas work to improve upon their 3-8 record from last season.
Senior quarterback Kyle Nolan threw nine touchdowns last season and will be looking to hit familiar targets in senior wide receiver Jake DeCicco and junior wide receiver Justin Hill. Last season, DeCicco and Hill caught 43 receptions for 446 yards and 31 receptions for 401 yards, respectively.
“[Having Hill and DeCicco back] is really important,” Sgarlata said. “We ask those guys to do a lot.”
Volleyball
FILE PHOTO: NATE MOULTON/THE HOYA
While universities across the country welcome their newest students to campus in the fall, varsity teams are also welcoming newcomers. From initiating athletes into their teams and their cultures to introducing new players to tougher collegiate competition, the fall season prompts upperclassmen to begin their leadership roles on their respective squads.
For this year’s Georgetown volleyball team (3-4), the standard, universal experience of welcoming and teaching new players will be particularly challenging. Of the 12 players listed on the team’s roster, nine players are first-time Hoyas — leaving only three players returning from last season.
“You always have freshmen coming in, but it’s a little different [of a] situation [this year] because we’re outnumbered,” senior outside hitter Lauren Saar said.
Sailing
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In six of the past 10 years, a member of the Georgetown sailing team has won the Everett B. Morris Memorial Trophy for the Marlow Ropes College Sailor of the Year. Current senior Nevin Snow is the most recent example of the program’s run of dominance, capturing the award in 2015 after finishing as runner-up in 2014.
The program has established an environment that emphasizes teamwork and teaching. The team’s upperclassmen consistently work with the younger sailors in order to help them acclimate to the collegiate circuit, which in turn helps the younger sailors in competition.
“We always have the upperclassmen looking out for the underclassmen to make sure that everyone’s making the right decisions and doing the right things. We want to make sure they’re just regular Georgetown students who don’t burden themselves with too much stuff right from the beginning and settle into their own routine,” Head Coach Michael Callahan said.
Field Hockey
FILE PHOTO: JULIA HENNRIKUS/THE HOYA
After splitting its first four games, the Georgetown field hockey team (2-2) heads into its 2015 campaign with an optimistic outlook. With standout athletes such as junior forward Aliyah Graves-Brown and junior goalkeeper Rachel Skonecki leading the team, the Hoyas are working to improve their offensive production in order to earn better results in the Big East.
The Hoyas began their season with two consecutive losses at home to Davidson (1-2) and Rider (4-0) in late August. Though Georgetown had solid opportunities throughout the game against Davidson, the Wildcats capitalized on a rebound to score the sole goal of the game.
Cross Country
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Last fall, the Georgetown men’s and women’s cross country teams closed out their seasons with two top-20 finishes at the NCAA Championships in Terre Haute, Ind. Led by All-American senior Katrina Coogan, the women’s team placed fourth in the race behind Michigan State, Iowa State and New Mexico. Graduate student John Murray was the first to finish for the men’s team, helping the Hoyas to a 17th-place finish behind Big East competitors Villanova and Providence.
This year, the Hoyas have the talent and the attitude to repeat this success, led by new Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Michael Smith. Smith replaced Patrick Henner in the wake of multiple investigations into the track program over the summer.
In the rankings released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, the Georgetown women are ranked fifth in the country behind Iowa State, New Mexico, Michigan State and Colorado. The men are currently occupying the 16th slot nationally.
Columns:
IPPOLITO: The Water Cooler
As another Labor Day passes, another football season begins and another MLB playoff race takes shape, the stark labor disparities in sports should be worth noting. All four of the major sports can see careers end instantaneously, but not all athletes would be guaranteed of the same post-career benefits. As usual, the NFL stands on its own in terms of moral ineptitude and surely has the farthest to go in insuring better current and long-term care for its players, while America’s pastime, baseball, actually seems stuck in a different age when organized labor was strong and workers were taken care of.
To become less like the NFL and more like baseball, there are several things players associations should lobby for and structural changes that owners must endure. First, salary caps must be removed. In today’s sports age, equating money with championships is far too simplistic. For example, in baseball, the correlation between a team’s payroll and its record has been falling for the last decade. With the recent massive emphasis on data analytics in all sports, teams are better able to find value and extract more production without having to overpay a major star. Baseball is somewhat unique in that no one player has an astronomical effect over the course of 162 games, so while a Bryce Harper or Zack Greinke may be baseball’s version of a LeBron James or Kevin Durant, they simply don’t have same effect because of the nature of the game.
LANZILLA: Fantasy Football Corner
As classes begin in earnest on Georgetown’s campus and students begin to worry about homework, recruitment sessions and applying to clubs, there is a silver lining to the busyness of autumn. Across the city in Landover, Md., and in stadiums around the country, men in pads are preparing for the greatest of all sports. The NFL season kicked off last night and, of course, that means the fantasy football season is right around the corner. If you’re reading this, I assume you have drafted your squad and are in the process of nervously toying with your starting roster in preparation for Week 1. If you have yet to draft, may I refer you to my past articles for advice and also a better league because, well, you and your friends are a little behind the time.
Week 1 can either give you a false sense of validation that your team is meant to win your league (trust me, it’s only a week, things will happen that will be quite unexpected) or propel you into a panic, causing you to send off a flurry of trade offers and try to redecorate your roster as soon as possible. Before we dive into the predictions that will help you secure a Week 1 victory, keep in mind that it truly is only a week. A regular season in fantasy football usually lasts 13 weeks with the following three reserved for the playoffs. To comfortably find yourself in the playoffs you will need at least seven to eight wins, but that also means you will lose from time to time. While a Week 1 win is great for bragging rights, it does not automatically lay the foundation for championship glory. That will take a season’s worth of shrewd moves and successful lineup decisions.
SANTAMARIA: Saxa Synergy
One hundred and twelve miles per hour. An almost incalculable number of feet per second.
One is the speed at which Stephen Curry shoots a three-pointer. The other is the speed at which Hall of Fame NBA player Drazen Petrovic crashed into a truck on the German Autobahn on June 7, 1993. Petrovic, the passenger in Klara Szalantzy’s car, was found dead on arrival. He was 28.
Twenty-two years later, Stephen Curry was draining a record number of threes en route to the Golden State Warriors’ NBA Championship, garnishing praise as the best long distance shooter of all-time.
A man who once held that title, former Indiana Pacers guard Reggie Miller, once heralded the late Petrovic as the greatest shooter he had ever seen. Though his NBA career was short, the Croatian converted nearly 44 percent of his three-pointers shots for his career and peaked with two seasons of above 20 points per game.
Now that many pundits consider Steph Curry to hold the title of best long distance shooter of all time, it seems only fitting that the two have a connection that goes beyond the game.