The No. 15 Georgetown women’s soccer team (10-3-2, 4-1-1 Big East) fell on the road to Providence (9-6, 4-2 Big East) on Sunday afternoon by a final score of 1-0. The Friars’ senior midfielder Christina Klaum scored the lone goal of the match and a strong defensive showing from her team saw out the upset.
Klaum’s goal came in the fifth minute from a long throw into the box. The Hoyas defense couldn’t get a clean clearance off and the loose ball fell to the senior, who beat Georgetown senior goalkeeper Arielle Schechtman to the ball to poke it into the back of the net. The Friars wouldn’t get another effort on target until the 85th minute.
The game was played mostly in the Friars’ defensive half as Georgetown pressed for an equalizer for the rest of the half. Senior midfielder Rachel Corboz took four shots in the first period in an attempt to break Providence’s defense down, and Providence redshirt freshman goalkeeper Shelby Hogan made two comfortable saves. Hogan also came smartly off her line to smother a through ball for Georgetown redshirt sophomore forward Amanda Carolan and went into the halftime break without any major scares.
Georgetown took eight shots in the first half to Providence’s two, dominating the game as they expected. However, the offensive onslaught from their previous match at Villanova (6-9, 2-4 Big East) wasn’t matched in Rhode Island.
The second half was more of the same for both sides. Providence was content to sit back and hit on the counterattack, daring the Hoyas offense to break them down, something the Georgetown team wasn’t able to manage. Despite the ten shots and numerous promising opportunities, Hogan and the rest of the Friars back line shut out Georgetown’s scintillating attack for the first time in over a month, when the team was held goalless against then-No. 14 Rutgers (10-2-4, 4-2-3 Big 10).
Hogan finished the match with five total saves. Georgetown outshot Providence 18-4 and took eight corners while the Friars had none.
“It was a tough game and a frustrating loss for us,” Georgetown head coach Dave Nolan said. “We tried everything we could to score, hit the woodwork twice, but unfortunately couldn’t get one.”
Despite the loss, other results in the conference kept the Hoyas in first place while the Friars jump to third place. Georgetown returns home on Thursday to host Marquette (10-5-1, 3-3 Big East) in a rematch of last year’s Big East Championship game. Kickoff is slated for 3:00 p.m. at Shaw Field.
