The No. 20 Georgetown women’s soccer team (6-1-0, Big East) defeated No. 3 Virginia (7-1-0, ACC) 3-2 on Sunday, September 11, in what head coach Dave Nolan called “a huge win for this team, and a huge win for this program.”
Although the game will go down as one of the best ever played on Shaw Field, it very easily could have gone the other way. Virginia scored twice early on in the match, with junior forward Veronica Latsko heading in a goal in the sixth minute and freshman forward Taylor Ziemer scoring in the eighth. “At one point, I was actually coming down the line, and I was thinking ‘How can I get out of the tunnel and down to my car?’” Nolan joked after the game.
Down 2-0 only ten minutes into the game against the No. 3 team in the nation, it would have been easy for the Hoyas to quit. Instead, they had a three goals to none run to finish out the first half, proving yet again how deadly their offense can be.
Georgetown started off their scoring spree with a 25- yard blast from junior midfielder Taylor Pak. Pak took advantage of a poor clearance by UVA goalkeeper, senior Morgan Stearns, in the thirteenth minute, and netted what would become the first goal in the Hoyas’ comeback. It was the first goal Virginia had conceded all year.
“Starting 2-0 down in the opening minutes of the game is really unfortunate for us,” Pak said, “I just saw my opportunity and I took the chance.”
Georgetown’s offense would continue to pound when sophomore forward Amanda Carolan scored in the 25th minute. Carolan’s equalizing goal came from inside the box, off an excellent pass from junior midfielder Chloe Knott.
The highlight of the match came from junior midfielder Rachel Corboz, who scored on a brilliant free kick from 25 yards out in the 37th minute. The goal, her seventh of the year, flew past Virginia’s wall to the far post.
“I saw the goalie off to her right side, and so the top right was open, so I just aimed that way. Thankfully it went in,” Corboz said of her thought process before the play.
Corboz now leads the Big East in scoring with 20 points, making for a 2.88 points per game average. Her efforts on Sunday led to being named Big East Offensive Player of the Week for the second week in a row and the third time this season. A Hoya has held the honor every week this season; senior forward Grace Damaska was given the title for the week of August 29.
The second half saw an end to the goal scoring, as the Hoyas looked to hold their lead. Georgetown’s defense became much more aggressive, and they succeeded in stopping Virginia’s attempts to attack from the sides. “I don’t think they ever did what they normally do, which is going wide,” Nolan said of his second half tactics, noting the team’s ability to force Virginia’s attacks in the middle of the attacking zone.
The final fifteen minutes of the match were marked by an increase in the physicality of play. Both sides grew extremely frustrated as the referee seemed to swallow his whistle while the intensity increased. Nonetheless, the Hoyas were able to remain calm enough to hold on to the win. “In the last minutes of the game, the only way that a team can come back is off of one of our mistakes. The only choice we had was to stay calm, especially against a team like that,” Pak noted.
Georgetown’s win on Sunday, in front of packed bleachers at Shaw Field, showed the best that this team can be. Their chemistry and skill offensively are enough to scare most of the nation’s squads, and they proved to whatever doubters were left that their win against No. 19 Rutgers (5-1-1, Big Ten) was not a fluke. After a comeback like this, Georgetown is, and certainly will continue to be, a tough team to beat. They will continue their non- conference play this week at George Washington (6-1-0, A-10).
The atmosphere at the end of the game was nothing short of spectacular, with the Hoya players embracing each other at midfield and a visibly excited coach Nolan running out to meet them. “We had a chance to do something really special today for our program,” Pak said, “and we came through.”
