It took a little extra time, but the Georgetown women’s soccer team (5-1-1 overall, 0-0-1 BE) won the 2005 Hoya Classic in exciting fashion on Sunday with a 3-2 victory against St. Joseph’s (2-4-1 overall).
The game-winning goal came in the second minute of overtime, when junior midfielder Chrissy Skogen found the back of the net off of a pass from teammate Sara Jordan for the second time in the game. The goal secured the win for a Hoyas squad that had battled hard all afternoon.
“We just needed to get that goal in, needed a win,” said Skogen after the game. “It was a great ball by Jordan.”
Despite spending most of the opening minutes on attack, the Hoyas fell behind early when St. Joe’s junior forward Megan Schutt found junior forward Nancy Cook for the first goal of game in the sixth minute. The defenses then reigned supreme until the 42nd minute, when Georgetown first-year defender Alex Gargano took a pass from senior midfielder Alexandra Hardy and scored the equalizer from long range.
The Hoyas took the lead when Jordan found Skogen for the first time with little more than a minute left in the first half.
“She’s a very great, talented player,” Head Coach Dave Nolan said of Skogen. “I don’t think she understands herself and what an impact she can have on the game.”
Also assisting on the play was first-year forward Brittany Berry.
The Hawks struck back early in the second half with Cook scoring her second goal of the game in the seventh minute. The Hoyas were unable to capitalize on several scoring opportunities in the remainder of the half, but the superb play of sophomore goalkeeper Jade Higgins kept Georgetown in the game, setting the stage for Skogen’s goal in the sudden-death overtime period.
Coach Nolan expressed his pleasure at the result. “We played well enough to win the game more comfortably than we did,” he remarked. “On chances created, we deserved to win.”
“We’re still a young team, and we’re still learning how to win games,” he added. “It was certainly good for us to get used to winning in overtime.”
The win resulted in Georgetown securing the 2005 Hoya Classic tournament title, which also featured Iona (1-3-1 overall) and American (2-5-0 overall). Named to the all-tournament team from the Hoyas were Skogen, Gargano, senior defender Ashley Darcy and junior midfielder Shante Cofield.
Following a 2-0 shutout of local rival American on Wednesday afternoon, the Hoyas will head to Delaware to play in the Blue Hen adidas Classic. Georgetown plays Towson on Friday at 5 p.m. and host Delaware on Sunday at 2 p.m.
