Brian Wiese, Georgetown University men's soccer coach, has used a little hometown connection to turn the Hoyas into a Big East beast.

Wiese, who grew up in Albuquerque and is an Albuquerque Academy graduate, snagged a fellow Charger alum to be his goalkeeper. Mark Wilber, who was reared in Tijeras, is making Wiese look good by posting a 0.75 goals-against average in four games this season, helping the 22nd-ranked NCAA Division I Hoyas compile a 6-2 record.

"He was a kid that not many people recruited," Wiese said. "And we're glad. A lot of good soccer players come out of the Albuquerque area and we're glad that we found him."

Wilber, who is in his second year at Georgetown and is seeing his first playing time this season, helped the Hoyas establish a team record scoreless streak of 500-plus minutes.

"That was definitely a team effort," Wilber said. "Our defense was playing so good as a team, we were just shutting it down. For the most part, there wasn't much for me to do."

Wilber has been sharing the goalkeeping duties. But when Wiese needs an athletic man in net to come up with the big saves, he turns to Wilber.

"He's one of the best shot stoppers that I've coached," said Wiese, who played goalkeeper at Dartmouth in his day. "And that's saying something because I've coached some All-Americans who have gone on to play in the MLS."

At 6-foot-4, Wilber has a knack for coming up with the big play, the coach said.

"He makes saves that you don't think should be made," Wiese said. "He makes saves that you're still talking about a week later."

A starter all his career, Wilber said it hasn't been a difficult adjustment sharing the job.

"We both know we can make the saves," he said of fellow netminder Matthew Brutto. "The coach makes the decision, and it's just a matter of us preparing for the game."

A bigger adjustment was getting used to living in Washington, D.C.

"My first semester of my freshman year, it was kind of tough," Wilber said. "There are no mountains out here so it took a little while to get used to. But now I'm really enjoying it. Washington is a great city. There are a lot of things to do here. There's the Smithsonian and the monuments. It's pretty cool."

It helped that Seth C'deBaca, a Sandia Prep graduate and Wilber's former club teammate, is also a sophomore at Georgetown and making an impact with the Hoyas.

"We've gotten to know each other real well," Wilber said.

Despite all the extracurricular activities, Wilber's main focus is on his academics, studying botany.

"I definitely want to play four years," he said. "And I want to go to graduate school." And should the opportunity arise to play professionally, that would be difficult to turn down, he said.

"I'm really not sure at the present," he said. "If I do play at the next level, I'd still return to school and finish my education."

Wiese has no doubts that Wilber will succeed at whichever path he chooses.

"He's such a driven, Type-A personality that he's going to do well in whatever he does," Wiese said. "He has the body and the ability to play professionally. He has a few things to work on, but those are things he can take care of while he's in school. But if he sets his mind on being a professional goalkeeper, I know he can do that. He's also such a good student that he will be able to succeed there, as well."