The Georgetown women’s soccer team (18-2-3, 6-1-2 Big East) defeated Rutgers (12-5-6, 4-2-5 Big 10) on Friday at Shaw Field by a score of 2-0. Goals from redshirt freshman forward Amanda Carolan in the 19th minute and graduate student defender Marina Paul in the 82nd minute, both assisted by junior midfielder Rachel Corboz, lifted the Hoyas to into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
Rutgers carved out the first real chance of the game in the third minute and forced a save from Georgetown sophomore goalkeeper Arielle Schechtman, but were caught out by the offside flag. From there, the Hoyas took control.
From the first corner of the game, it was clear that Georgetown—which scored on just one of its 19 corners last Sunday against St. Francis (Pa.)—played their opportunities short. Junior midfielder Chloe Knott’s attempted cross hit the top of the net and the chance came to nothing, but this began a theme of the Hoyas being creative with their set pieces.
In the 19th minute, Corboz won the ball from a Rutgers throw in and played the ball to Carolan. Carolan then won a footrace against the defender, took a touch past her and rifled the ball into the bottom left corner for the goal. It was the first recorded shot of the game for either team.
Shortly after, Georgetown graduate student forward Crystal Thomas won a ball in the middle of the field and ran at the Rutgers defense, forcing a save from redshirt senior goalkeeper Alana Jimenez in the 23rd minute. Thomas replaced senior forward Grace Damaska early on in the game to add an extra bit of pace to Georgetown’s front three.
Paul was the target on Georgetown’s next two set pieces. The first, a 30th minute corner, saw Paul’s header—which may have been partially blocked by a defender—fly over the crossbar. The other was a training ground free kick that saw Corboz float the ball to the back post for Paul to head back across the face of goal. While this was recorded as a missed shot for Paul, Thomas couldn’t quite get to the ball for what would have been an easy tap in.
Photo: Georgetown Sports Information
“They were just some free kicks that we typically work on. Actually I couldn’t believe that the one that Marina headed across the goal didn’t end up in the back of the net,” said Georgetown Head Coach Dave Nolan.
No more notable chances came from the rest of the half as the Hoyas held Rutgers to a single shot at the break.
Rutgers presented more of an offensive threat in the second half. A long free kick in the 52nd minute eventually fell straight into Schechtman’s hands, and although it led to no immediate threat, it symbolized the Scarlet Knights’ added attacking intent for the period.
However, it was still Georgetown which had the better of the chances. Junior defender Drew Topor hit the top of the crossbar with her cross in the 59th minute after an overlapping run. Rutgers countered with a dipping strike from senior midfielder Jennifer Andresen in the 62nd minute, but Schechtman had enough time to react and make a comfortable save.
The Hoyas then added an extra offensive push to their play. Topor’s 70th minute strike was headed for the top corner before being deflected wide. From the ensuing corner, Corboz missed just high. Both shots were created from short corners.
“The way they set up on corner kicks, they get all ten players in and around the six yard box, from the penalty spot in, so we wanted to try and get balls more to the outside, our runs from short corner kicks, just to try and get them to start bringing some bodies out,” said Nolan.
The corner that Georgetown crossed into the box resulted in the second goal. Corboz drove a ball to the back post that Paul headed back across goal. Jimenez got two hands to the ball, but the power that Paul generated forced the goalkeeper to mishandle the ball. She eventually grabbed the shot, but after a moment’s hesitation the assistant referee awarded the Hoyas their second goal of the afternoon.
In the 85th minute, Schechtman made a save against Rutgers senior forward Madison Tiernan to keep the Hoyas’ lead at 2-0. Tiernan was the Scarlet Knights’ points leader for the season, but she had no influence on the game today largely in thanks to Topor, who lined up at right back against the left winger. The rest of the Georgetown backline was excellent as well, holding Rutgers to four total shots.
“I just had to focus on shutting her down and doing everything I can to keep her going backwards,” said Topor. “Once we got into a foot race it was a fifty-fifty, so I knew that if she just didn’t turn me then she couldn’t get behind me and get to goal.”
The Scarlet Knights had a case for a penalty in the 88th minute, but the referee deemed Paul’s challenge fair, and the Hoyas cruised to their 2-0 win.
In the other second round matchup at Shaw Field, Virginia (15-4-2, 6-2-2 ACC) won 3-0 against defending champion Penn State (12-5-4, 7-1-3 Big 10) behind efforts from senior defender Meghan Cox, sophomore midfielder Betsy Brandon, and freshman forward Taylor Ziemer. Earlier in the season, Georgetown beat Virginia 3-2 at Shaw Field, coming back from a 2-0 deficit within the opening nine minutes.
“Virginia are a special team. We had them here earlier this year. We beat them once, and it was a dogfight. At one stage it looked like they were going to smack us,” Nolan said. “I expect another great game. They’re a great team; they handled a very good Penn State team very comfortably.”
The rematch comes on Sunday at 12 pm at Shaw Field. This time, the winner advances to the Elite 8.
