The Georgetown women’s soccer team (11-5-2, 6-1-2 Big East) ended the regular season on a high note with a 3-1 victory over the Creighton Blue Jays (10-10-0, 2-7-0 Big East) on Senior Day at Shaw Field Friday afternoon. Seniors Crystal Thomas, Melissa Downey, Emma Newins, and Sarah Adams led the Hoyas in their last appearance on the Hilltop to guarantee an all-important bye in the opening round of next week’s Big East Tournament.
“It’s the game I dread every year,” said Head Coach Dave Nolan. “I never know what way to play it. Do we honor the seniors after the game? Do we honor them before the game? Do we honor them at halftime? I never can really figure out. And I feel you never can get a focused effort…It’s tough. It’s an emotional day for the kids. This will probably be their last day playing on Shaw Field, so I know it means a lot for them. “
Emotions were certainly high, but the Hoya seniors channeled them into a dominating performance. They fought for each other for all 90 minutes.
“Definitely extra motivation to finish strong for each other, because you know that it’s our last time playing on Shaw Field, so we all wanted to finish strong for everybody,” said Thomas.
The Hoyas started off strong. Adams sped all across the field, sparking Georgetown drives and dishing the ball to Thomas to slip past Blue Jay defenders into the corner and send over crosses.
Playing the corners were a high priority for the Hoyas coming into the game.
“They were playing with three defenders instead of four, which meant the space was always kind of in the corners of each field and out wide,” said Nolan. “So, our plan this week in practice had been to work the ball, to get it out wide, and try and take advantage of the wide space. “
The Creighton back line blocked Thomas’ first few efforts, but the senior forward would not be denied, and found her fellow forward Downey in the 20th minute, who netted the ball in the bottom left corner from the near post outside the six yard box to kickstart the scoring.
Just three minutes later, Downey scratched Thomas’ back in return, finding Thomas from the outside to set up for an easy chip in the box to double the lead.
Although plenty of seniors notched points on the day, perhaps the standout was the one who never scored.
“I think one of my seniors in particular, Sarah Adams, was fantastic,” said Nolan. “In the second half I thought she was our best player.”
Adams and Thomas continued to threaten in the second half. Adams burned past and bounced off Blue Jay defenders, keeping it herself to charge from the Hoya box to the opposite end. Her vision was unmatched, as she thread flawless long through balls through crowds to Thomas, who somehow elluded double-teams in the corner with ridiculous footwork.
The Blue Jays found one of their few scoring opportunities in the 53rd minute, when a series of deflections caused the ball to pinball around the inside of the box. Somehow, Senior keeper Newins was quick enough to pounce on it to mute the Creighton attack.
Adams and Thomas continued to shine through the rest of the half, sparking a chain of passes in the 84th with freshman forward Caitlin Farrell to give sophomore midfielder Rachel Corboz a clean look inside the box. Corboz launched a rocket across the net, bringing the Hoya lead to 3-0.
Nolan sent in senior substitute keeper Lauren Trower to finish off the last five minutes of Senior Day. In the 87th, the Blue Jays launched a shot that ricocheted off the near post. Trower dove to deflect the follow-up, but Creighton’s Kaira Houser was there to take advantage of the prone keeper to spoil the Georgetown shutout.
A win closing off the season was imperative in locking down a top seed going into the Big East Tournament, where the top two finishers in the regular season receive a bye through the first round.
“One of our goals this year was to lock ourselves down as one of the top two teams in the conference and securing the win today did that,” said Nolan. “It gets us out of having a play-in game to advance into the conference tournament next week in Creighton. And more importantly it gives us four or five days to rest. If we had a loss this week we probably would’ve had a game on Tuesday, which makes it very hard to prepare, so it’s great in that regard. It gives us a chance to get some rest behind us.”
“Just going into the tournament we’ll have a little more time to prepare, because they are going to be really tough games, so it’ll be good to have those extra days to prepare,” said Thomas.
The Blue and Gray will enter the tournament red-hot, dropping only one game in the last ten. Needless to say, the Hoyas have momentum on their side.
“They have to be confident because we’re not losing games,” said Nolan.
“I’m really confident in my teammates and our ability to make a run for the Big East championship,” said Thomas. “We just need to put together a couple of good performances against really strong teams, but I think we’re capable of doing that. So if we just play to our potential, it could be a really good postseason run.”
Coach Nolan and his team will ship out west to Omaha, Nebraska this week for the Big East Tournament semifinal match at Creighton’s Morrison Stadium. While two potential opponents will duke it out on Tuesday for a crack at Georgetown, the Hoyas will be sitting on the sidelines, ready and waiting.
