Georgetown’s women’s soccer team (8-8-1 overall, 4-4-1 BE) has finally hit its stride, putting together a three-game winning streak, and including back-to-back shutouts over conference opponents.
The most recent shutout, an upset at 16th ranked West Virginia (14-4-0 overall, 7-3-0 BE) is undoubtedly the biggest win of the season for a team fighting to become one of the top eight conference teams to make the playoffs.
“To shut [West Virginia] out at home, on their senior day, with a depleted team speaks volumes of our girls,” Head Coach Dave Nolan said. “It was a great win that shows how much the team has grown this season.”
The Hoyas scored early and then shut down the Mountaineers for the rest of the game, handing them their fourth loss of the season. First-year defender Karen Waskewich capitalized on a West Virginia foul in the eighth minute, sending a free kick into the upper left corner of the goal for the only score of the game.
West Virginia, the top scoring team in the Big East, continually put pressure on the Hoyas, generating 26 shots to Georgetown’s two, but were never able to put anything past first-year keeper Jade Higgins, who notched her fifth shutout of the season.
The win was especially impressive for the Hoyas, who started six first-years and were playing with a number of injuries. Senior captains Casey McCann and Elizabeth Roberti were out with injuries as was junior forward Shara McNeill. Georgetown suffered two more blows during the game when junior defender Alexandra Hardy was forced to leave after an elbow to the eye called for four stitches and sophomore midfielder Chrissy Skogen was forced out of the game with blurred vision.
“At times we were playing with eight freshmen on the field,” Nolan said. “Usually you need all your guns to have a shot against a team like West Virginia.”
The team’s balance of both under and upperclassmen bodes well for the Hoyas, who clinched a spot in the Big East’s postseason tournament with the win.
Senior midfielder Nicole DePalma is currently the Hoyas’ most dangerous weapon. She won Big East Offensive Player of the Week after notching two goals in a 4-1 win over and adding another in the 2-0 shutout of Seton Hall last week.
Despite DePalma’s success, the team knows that the first-years will need to play an integral role if the team is to continue its success in the postseason.
“The freshmen make a huge impact on this team,” DePalma said. “They keep the intensity up.”
“The team is driven at two ends,” Nolan said. “At one end by the seniors and at the other by the freshmen, who have an infectious enthusiasm. They don’t want the season to end.”
These wins now provide Georgetown with a chance to finish as high as fifth in a conference where they were predicted to finish ninth in the preseason poll.
“The team has responded well under these must-win situations,” Nolan said. “To have a chance to finish behind four of the nation’s top 20 teams is a huge achievement.”
With the playoffs set to begin this weekend in Connecticut, the Hoyas will be in must-win situations, needing victories to stay alive. However, many on the team aren’t opposed to the do-or-die mentality.
“We are going to take things game-by-game,” DePalma said. “But we play our best under pressure.”
