The Georgetown women’s soccer team is gearing up to face two Big East opponents this weekend, playing Rutgers at North Kehoe on Friday and traveling to Seton Hall on Sunday. The Hoyas (7-1-1, 1-0-0 Big East) are looking to rebound after a disappointing 3-3 tie against Penn.
The Scarlet Knights have proven strong on defense, only allowing four goals this season.
“We’re expecting to play a good opponent that always plays a possession style,” head coach Dave Nolan said.
Rutgers has outshot their opponents 130 to 45 this year. The Scarlet Knights haven’t missed a beat since making it to the third round of the NCAA tournament last season.
However, the Hoyas are playing remarkably on defense as well, with shutouts in all seven of their wins. But they enter this weekend coming off a major collapse, allowing three goals to Penn in the last fifteen minutes of regulation.
The draw against the Quakers has only inspired the team to play better against Rutgers.
“Our goal for this weekend is to get two shutouts. That’s always our goal,” sophomore defender Gabby Miller said.
The Hoyas also achieved a milestone last week when junior goalkeeper Jackie DesJardin set the school’s career shutout record, notching her 21st clean sheet. This came just days after she became the team’s all-time wins leader for a goalie.
As Big East play ramps up, Nolan realizes his team is in for a challenge.
“Last year we finished second in the Big East with an 8-3 record, and it’s going to be difficult to get there again because our conference is so good,” Nolan said. “But if we want to get there this year we need two wins this weekend.”
The Hoyas square off against Rutgers (6-1-1) at 1 p.m. this Friday.
