The announcer lists the starters, the national anthem plays, and 10 Georgetown women’s soccer players form a pre-match huddle for some last minute advice. It’s almost a ritual for the 10 to group together as the 11th player remains at the bench preparing herself. After a final sip of water, she slowly trots out to join her teammates, the orange captain’s armband on her left bicep and the number 10 on her back. Rushing out onto the field would be unbecoming for the captain.
Senior midfielder Rachel Corboz is the creative spark for this Georgetown team. She plays as a number 10, the point guard of soccer, a vital position in head coach Dave Nolan’s attack. She’s always on the ball looking to create scoring opportunities, either by finding the right pass or choosing the right dribble. Rachel extended Georgetown’s years of gifted attacking midfield play to a decade. From 2007-10, Kelly D’Ambrisi (MSB ’11) and now-professional player Ingrid Wells (COL ’11) were the attacking focal points for the Hoyas before passing the mantle on to Rachel’s older sister, former Manchester City women’s player Daphne Corboz (COL ’14).
“Probably in the last 10 years, we’ve had four of the best attacking midfielders or number 10s in the country,” Nolan said. Yet, when recruiting the New Jersey club star, he worried that Daphne’s presence at Georgetown could keep Rachel away.
Like Rachel, Daphne was the engine behind the Hoyas’ attack. The older Corboz was twice nominated as a semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy, awarded to the best college player of the year. Previous winners include World Cup champions Mia Hamm and Morgan Brian. Having played for Daphne’s academy, as well as in the same position, Rachel was following in her big sister’s footsteps. But Nolan wasn’t sure that would translate to Rachel joining her at Georgetown.
“There was going to be an overlap of one year where I felt maybe Rachel would’ve wanted to play out from under her sister’s shadow at another school,” Nolan said. “That was a fear in the back of my mind, that she would want to blaze her own trail.”
Rutgers University was also courting Rachel. Mike O’Neill, head coach of the Scarlet Knights, is also the girl’s director of coaching at the New Jersey Players Development Academy (PDA). Rachel played for O’Neill at PDA Slammers, where the coach formed a good impression of the Corboz soccer machine.
Before either sister was born, Rachel’s father, Michel Corboz, played semi-pro in France. Her brother, Mael, currently plays for MSV Duisburg in the second division in Germany after two years with Rutgers and then the University of Maryland.
“Rachel was raised on the game, so her understanding of the game was a different level, and then she spent so much time on the game making sure that her technical ability was good, whether that be passing or dribbling,” O’Neill said. “She had all the attributes to be a special player at a very young age.”
O’Neill described how the three siblings interacted in their youth, always pushing each other to improve on and off the field. But despite the close bond they developed, and because they attended different high schools, the Corboz sisters had never played together until Rachel became a Hoya.
“Ultimately, I chose Georgetown because of the balance between a great school academically and a great soccer team,” Rachel said in an email to the Voice. “I also really wanted to be able to play on the same team as my sister, which was something I never had the chance to do.”
Rachel played more than any other first-years in her class, though she was largely overshadowed by her older sister. Still, Daphne was much harder on Rachel than she was on the other new players.
“There was one particular moment where I had to have words with Daphne,” Nolan said. “I didn’t think it was appropriate that she’s tougher just because it’s her sister.”
Despite being a first-year, Rachel started in 20 of the Hoyas’ 22 games that season, scoring four goals and setting up eight more en route to a 11-5-6 record for the team and an upset of then-No. 3 West Virginia in the first round of the 2014 NCAA tournament.
When Daphne graduated, Rachel took the helm, becoming the star in her sophomore season. She became the offensive focal point, leading the team in both goals (10) and assists (eight), as the Hoyas finished 11-5-4, before losing in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
“After Daphne graduated I tried not to put too much pressure on myself to fill her shoes,” Rachel said. “I tried to focus on what I did well as a player and what I could do to contribute to the team to make them successful.”
What Rachel brings are her quick feet and brilliant vision that unlock opposing defenses. Her dead ball service from either foot allows the Hoyas to better control their attacks on the opposing goalkeeper’s box. She can swing the ball in from either direction, float the ball to the back post, or simply go for goal herself.
Her sophomore season was her coming out party—her transformation into the undisputed creator on the pitch for Georgetown. Although the team itself floundered in the NCAA tournament, Rachel’s contributions earned her Big East Midfielder of the Year honors and a third-team All-American spot.
Then came the magic. After a 3-0 loss to then-No. 1 Stanford to open her junior year, the Hoyas began to reel off wins, with Rachel at the heart of the team’s offensive prowess. Her overtime goal at O’Neill’s No. 12 Rutgers saw Georgetown’s first win against a ranked opponent that year, before a scintillating free kick finished the comeback from 2-0 against No. 3 Virginia. The Hoyas dealt No. 2 West Virginia its only loss until the national championship game by the end of September, before hiccupping in league play.
By the time the Big East tournament rolled into Shaw Field, Georgetown’s momentum had slipped. But it’s when the stakes are highest that Corboz is at her best.
“When we got into the important part of the season, whether it be Big East playoffs or whether it be the NCAA early round games, that’s when your big players show up,” Nolan said. “Your bigger players tend to show up in the big occasions, and she’s always been that for us.”
Corboz was directly involved in six of Georgetown’s 14 goals in tournament play, with two of her corners leading to goals en route to the national semifinal, where the team fell to the eventual champions from the University of Southern California.
Over the course of the season, Corboz notched 11 goals and 16 assists, directly involved in 44 percent of the Hoyas’ 61 goals scored in 2016 to lead the team to a 20-3-3 record. Her performances throughout the year earned her a first-team All-American nod and a semifinalist nomination for the Hermann Trophy.
Through the first 10 games of 2017, Corboz has four goals and four assists, the most impressive finish coming in a 5-0 win against St. Francis. She shook her first defender with a stepover, used a fake shot to create an extra yard of space, and curled a left-footed shot into the top corner.
Corboz makes the crowd wait with bated breath when she’s on the ball, anticipating what she’ll do next. Much of her composure comes from Nolan’s coaching. Under his tutelage, she learned how to manage a game on the field and best utilize her teammates’ skillsets.
“Rachel may play the right pass but play it to the wrong person, so I think she’s gotten better at that,” Nolan said. “She can identify who’s on the field with her and [has] the understanding that what may be good for one person in that position might be different for another person in the exact same position.”
Corboz has become more savvy in what she does and where she spends her effort. She’s improved physically, becoming stronger and more fit. With last year’s Final Four run fresh in her mind, Corboz has set the goal high and drives herself to train harder to achieve it.
“A successful season for us would be winning the Big East championship and making it far in the NCAA tournament. We have set a high standard for ourselves coming off of last year and we are ready and determined to have a successful season like that,” Corboz said. “It’s great to get all of this preseason recognition as a team, but in the end it doesn’t mean anything because we have not achieved anything yet this season.”
When the season comes to an end, Georgetown will once again lose its star and many other stalwarts in the lineup in a class that Nolan looks on with pride.
“They’ve probably been our most dedicated class in terms of what they want from soccer,” Nolan said. “It’s a really good group of kids, every one of them.”
With Daphne playing for Sky Blue FC in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) and Mael playing for Duisburg, Rachel is poised to add to the family legacy.
“I would definitely like to continue my soccer career,” Rachel said.
O’Neill expects his former star to progress beyond the collegiate level. He recalls that she always had a ball at her feet to continue to improve, either constantly playing or watching the game to learn it better. Despite the added fatigue from attending national team camps and extra trainings, her drive remains strong.
“I know that she’s focused on her career at Georgetown but I think–I know–that after her career is over at Georgetown, the next step for players of Rachel’s ability is to go pro,” O’Neill said.
With Rachel’s senior season a month-and-a-half in the books, the magic is almost over on the Hilltop. Inevitably, there will be a decisive set piece that determines Georgetown’s fate in this year’s tournament. As the curly-haired midfielder steps up to take the shot, the crowd will sit on the edge of its seat, ready to jump up and roar if the ball bulges the back of the net. She’s done it so many times now that when there’s a free kick in shooting range, the Georgetown faithful expect her to succeed.
Soon, Rachel will be on the field in the NWSL. When she inevitably arrives at the Washington Spirit’s Maureen Hendricks Field in Germantown, either home or away, the same fans that cheered her on at Shaw Field will be able to see her make her slow trot from the bench once again. Maybe Sky Blue will take her, reuniting the Corboz sisters once again. But until the draft, the yellow grass of a home game in November beckons Rachel to light up the gloomy afternoon one more time.
