Mouzoune, Heine lead Tigers to opening draw

Georgetown Men's Soccer began a new era on Wednesday as John Manga took the reins for the first time as head coach. Armed with a load of returning talent, it was a crop of newcomers on the pitch that led the Tigers to a point in opening night with a 2-2 result at Talladega.

Both teams came out eager and aggressive with multiple offsides and fouls called in the first 5 minutes of the match. New goalkeeper, Simon Heine, was soon put to work as he tallied 4 saves in the next 11 minutes to keep the Tornadoes off the board. Talladega kept the pressure on and got a ball by Heine in the 23rd minute for the lead. Georgetown's offense was quiet for most of the 1st half except for a shot from Esteban Betancurt Cardona hit the post in the 31st minute. Pedro Canal tallied the only official shot on goal in the half less than 3 minutes later. Heine made 1 more save in the 43rd minute to keep the Tigers down just 1-0 at the half.

Georgetown's offense finally came to life early in the 2nd half. Off a corner kick, freshman defender, Islam Houssni, found the back of the net off a feed from fellow freshman, Mohammed Mouzoune, to bring the Tigers level in the 54th minute. Mouzoune kept the momentum rolling in the 68th minute as he was on the back end of a pass from Pedro Canal. Mouzoune found the net and Georgetown took a brief 2-1 lead. The emphasis was on brief as Talladega stormed down the pitch for the equalizer just 30 seconds later. Mouzoune nearly had the go-ahead tally in the 71st minute but was turned away at the net.

The shot proved to be the last on the day for the Tigers as the Tornadoes ramped up the pressure looking for the winner. Talladega had 6 corner kicks in the final 19 minutes but could not line up a quality attempt. Simon Heine recorded just 1 save despite the constant pressure at the end. Georgetown's Daniel Saer came on late and fired a shot high in the final minute as the match ended with a draw.

Despite conceding 12 corner kicks to Talladega, Georgetown's back line was able to hold strong to enable the Tigers to pick up a point. The Tigers now travel west to Mississippi to take on Blue Mountain Christian on Friday. Kickoff is set for 4:00pm ET.