Sal Caccavale had been there before, and he knew exactly how to get the same result.
With just over two minutes remaining against Georgetown on Sunday, Caccavale buried a free kick from just outside the box — just as he had done in 2004 — scoring his second goal in two games and giving the Eagles a 2-1 victory over the Hoyas to reclaim the D.C. College Cup at American University.
“I had a free kick in overtime there two years ago — same spot, same result. I couldn’t have put it any better in the corner,” said Caccavale, a senior who was named tournament MVP. He missed the 2005 match — in which Georgetown won the tournament title by beating American, 1-0 — with a concussion.
The Eagles (2-0) went on top in the first half on sophomore forward Justin Turco’s diving header from senior midfielder Garth Juckem.
But the Hoyas (1-1), who had come from two goals down to defeat George Washington, 5-2, on Friday, tied the game in the 68th minute on a goal by senior forward Daniel Grasso.
“We’ve come back in two games. That’s been our focus under [first year] coach [Brian] Wiese, just to never give up and keep battling,” said Grasso.
When American last won the tournament in 2004, it went on to finish the season 15-6-2 and advance to the NCAA tournament.
“We win here, College Cup, we go on to win in the NCAAs,” said Caccavale. “AU, once we’re in the NCAAs, we never lose our first game, so that’s our goal.”
Colonials overrun Bison
In the earlier game, George Washington (1-1) rebounded from Friday’s loss to Georgetown with a 2-0 win over Howard (0-2) on goals from Greg McKay and Thomas Stuber.
