(Washington, DC) – On a warm Saturday afternoon with rain threatening, Towson beat a tired Georgetown 3-2 in the second game of their doubleheader.
Official disclaimer: With spring games, players switch uniform numbers and there is no official roster provided. So, assume that I’ll have some numbers/names incorrect. If there’s a discrepancy, please let me know.
Gtown Lineup -
GK: 0-Matthew Brutto
D: 4-(I think it’s Alex Pangraze and not Richard Diaz), 15-Brandon Pfluger, 21-Ben Slingerland, 10-Mostafa Ebrahimnejad
M: 6-Joslin Hunter, 13-Ibukun Otegbeye, 16-Sean Bellomy, 7-Conor Neusel
F: 3-Jose Colchao, 8-Peter Grasso
Towson Lineup (4-4-1-1) -
The only difference in this lineup and 2 weeks ago was Finney for Otero.
GK: 31-Sean Durkan
D: 2-Rob Nwosu, 14-Maxx Hurkamp, 13-Scott Horta, 3-Phil Greatwich
M: 12-Chris Zecha, 16-T.J. Jager, 27-Eric Finney, 18-Nino Mangione
W/D F: 5 Matt Beckman
F: Liam Maloney
Gtown:
Gtown started their reserves in the first half, with a few exceptions (GK, Bellomy, Ebrahimnejad). With a scoreless game at half time, Gtown finally found their scoring touch coming back from a 2 goal deficit. However, they gave up 3 second half goals.
In the first half, the young defense was not stepping up to stop the advancing Beckman.
Diggs got on the score sheet in the 74th minute on a 5 yard head flick from a long cross from Pangraze to make the score 2-1 (at that time).
Diggs started the second goal by serving in a deep corner kick that Grasso drops to C’deBaca at the top of box. C’deBaca shot weakly and Verdi redirected it from 8 yards into the near post with 4 minutes remaining in the game.
Diggs didn’t make a shielding run allowing Hurkamp to clear the ball in the second half.
Grasso is very active and is a good complementary player. He has a thorough understanding of the game and could be successful with a “poacher” up top. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him playing a central midfielder role.
Joslin is an active, pest of a player that adds bite to the midfield. He may not have enough talent for the next level, but he’ll be important annoying the other team. He has good wheels.
Some of the differences between C’deBaca and Neusel is that C’deBaca keeps his head up and Neusel doesn’t and C’deBaca can accurately pass while on the move and Neusel can’t. I think this is what puts Neusel on the bench behind Larrabee.
The battle between the two freshmen goal keepers (Matthew Brutto, Mark Wilber) seems pretty clear. Brutto yielded 0 goals in 2 halves and Wilber surrendered 4 goals in 2 halves. I like Brutto from last year. Wilber hasn’t done anything for me to reconsider. It’ll be a good battle in the fall.
C’deBaca played central midfield in the second half. While I like him out wide, his mother told me that he typically played centrally before college. With his talent, if I were his club or high school coach, I’d want him to touch the ball frequently. He has the skill to be successful in either position in college. However, I don’t think he has enough skill to play central midfield in the pros, but he could be very successful wide. For his personal development, he would be better served to learn to play wide right for the next 2 years. It’ll be interesting to see if Gtown coach Weisse does what is best for Gtown or C’deBaca.
Georgetown lost 8 of their 11 games last year by 1 goal. They need a way to tighten their defense and capitalize on their opportunities. I have confidence that Gtown will have a good trip into the NCAA in the fall.
Towson:
Towson seems to like going forward. I’m not too confident about their ability to defend. They lost one of the best goalies, Billy Chiles, to graduation this year and an accomplished central defenders, Nigel Marbles, to graduation last year. Chiles covered up many of the mistakes in the back.
In the 58th minute, Nino Mangione pulled in a long pass and drove to the end line. He delivered an accurate cross that Finney buried from 12 yards with a snap header.
8 minutes later, Beckman deflect a cross from Maloney to take a 2 goal lead at that time.
In the 82nd minute, #11 (it’s not Angus Burke – I think it may be Cesar Cisneros, but I’m not positive) crushed a ball for the winning score. The play began when #21 (I don’t think it’s Mouhamed Tall) combined with Maloney on a give and go then went by Bill Byers like he was a spectator.
Nwosu is technically deficient.
Greatwich doesn’t cover tightly enough. He appears to lose his man too easily. Concentration?
Maloney didn’t break down the Gtown defense. He had some chances, but wasn’t as sharp as he was against Oakland. For example, he was able to get away from Byers (like so many others), but his shot was off target. In the fall, it will be interesting to see who the best young English forward in Baltimore is between Maloney and Loyola’s Phil Bannister. My money right now is on Bannister.
Zecha is a very good player and delivers superior crosses.
