In what was supposed to be their home opener, the Georgetown women’s soccer team (1-1-2) was forced to go on the road and recorded its first loss of the season. Due to heavy rain last Friday from Tropical Storm Ernesto, some of the D.C. Invitational games were rescheduled and held instead at George Mason on Saturday.
In a dominant effort, the George Mason Patriots (2-1-1) handed the Hoyas their first loss of the season in a 2-0 game. George Mason snapped the scoreless game by a header from of junior forward Rachel Wiggins in the 22nd minute of play and tacked on one more in the 58th minute from sophomore midfielder Nilani Duarte.
The Patriots’ offensive attack was much more brutal than reflected by the score. George Mason out-shot Georgetown 22-9 and put four times as many shots on goal, 16-4, as Georgetown did. It took a career high 14 saves by junior goalkeeper Jade Higgins to keep the game competitive.
The delay to the Hoyas’ home opener was worth the wait as Georgetown rebounded nicely from their first loss to beat the Duquesne Dukes (0-3-1) by a score of 2-1 in overtime on Sunday. After a scoreless first half, senior midfielder Chrissy Skogen got the offense started for the Hoyas in the second half with her second goal of the season. Senior midfielder Shante Cofield set up the goal with a perfect pass to Skogen’s left foot.
With less than two minutes remaining in regulation Duquesne pushed the game into overtime play with a last minute shot from the top of the box by junior forward Audra Mathews. The ball scooted off junior goalie Jade Higgins’ gloves and was punched in by sophomore forward Jenna Farnetti to tie the score at one.
That score quickly silenced the Hoya faithful at North Kehoe Field and sent the game to overtime. Georgetown grabbed the go-ahead goal in the first over time period when junior forward Sarah Fetters sent a crossing pass off a Duke defender that bounced into the back of the net for the win.
Some members of the the Hoya women’s soccer team walked away with a little extra hardware after Sunday’s game. Sophomore midfielder Stephanie Zare, freshman defender Norah Swanson and senior midfielder Alexandra Hardy were named to the 2006 D.C. Invitational All-Tournament Team.
This weekend the Hoyas will try to improve their record while hosting Loyola Maryland on Friday and George Washington on Sunday. The games can be seen on North Kehoe Field at noon on Friday and 4 p.m. Sunday.
