The Georgetown women’s soccer team hit the road this week for a string of four away games, and so far they’ve come out the winners against two Big East opponents.
Road warriors: The Hoyas are finishing strong away from the Hilltop. (Photo by Kathy Shabalov)
The team took on the Cincinnati Bearcats (7-6-1), whose offense got an early lead when they scored in the 13th minute. The Hoyas regained control late in the first half and evened the score with a goal by senior midfielder Caitlin Durkee from outside of the box. From then on, the stifling Georgetown defense held Cincinnati scoreless. With the momentum from the tying goal, Georgetown entered the second half strong and beat the Bearcats 3-1 on two goals, from juniors Ingrid Wells and Camille Trujillo, which were just five minutes apart.
After the big win against Cincinnati, the squad headed to Kentucky to face Big East foe Louisville (9-5-0). Once again, Georgetown jumped out to a lead towards the end of the first half with a goal by freshman Alexa St. Martin. As in the previous game, Wells and Trujillo both scored in the second half to push the lead to 3-0. The Louisville Cardinals managed to get on the scoreboard once before the end of the game, but their efforts were not enough to beat the Hoyas.
With the two wins, the Hoyas improved to 11-4-0 overall and 5-2-0 in the Big East. But they still have two more games on their road trip before they head back to North Kehoe Field.
While their schedule may look tough, sometimes playing on the road is better than being in the comfort of the home field.
“It’s easier to stay focused on the game because you can keep the team together,” head coach Dave Nolan said.
On Friday, the Hoyas will travel to Pittsburgh, where they will play a weak Panthers team that is currently sitting at the bottom of the Big East standings. After their stay in Pennsylvania they will head for the mountains, where they will play West Virginia, a team that is currently 5-1-1 in the conference.
Nolan expects both games to be tough since the Hoyas have reached the point in the season where teams up their game as wins become even more valuable.
“We’re trying to fight for home field advantage in the Big East tournament and it’s going to be a good game, ” Nolan said.
Wells said that “playing away is never easy,” and that the team needs to focus on Friday’s game against Pitt and nothing else.
Still, it’s hard not to look ahead with the season in its home stretch.
“We still have four extremely important games left on our schedule,” Wells said. “It’s important [that] we get results on the road”.
By taking the season one game at a time, the Hoyas have put themselves in a good position for the NCAA tournament. At this point, the Hoyas need to buckle down and focus on finishing strong. Last year, the women had a comparable record at this point in the season, but they let a few games slip, and did not advance as far as they had hoped. This year, Wells and the Hoyas are back for the Big East.
“Good teams find a way to win, and that’s what we need to do from here on out,” Wells said.
