The Georgetown women’s soccer team (11-3-3, 5-1-2 Big East) couldn’t find a way past No. 22 Butler (11-1-5, 4-0-4 Big East) on the road on Sunday afternoon. The 0-0 draw kept both teams in the top two places in the conference and leaves Georgetown in complete control of their own seeding destiny for the Big East tournament.
Butler began the match with the wind at its back and kept the Hoyas prolific attack at bay in the opening twenty minutes of the match. Butler’s junior forward Paige Monaghan and freshman forward Caitlyn DiSarcina looked to ask questions of the Georgetown backline with their pace and physicality, but the Hoyas held firm.
Butler freshman midfielder/forward Elena Gutlove thought she had made the breakthrough in the 19th minute when she rounded Georgetown senior goalkeeper Arielle Schechtman, but the assistant’s flag was up for offside.
Georgetown sophomore forward/midfielder Paula Germino-Watnick had the best chance of the half for the Hoyas, firing a shot from 20 yards that struck the post. A shot by Butler redshirt sophomore defender Annika Schmidt from a tight angle was smothered by Schechtman, and a left footed curler from Georgetown senior midfielder Rachel Corboz was caught comfortably by the goalkeeper.
The teams went into the break on even terms with Georgetown’s offense held to just two shots. The Bulldogs took four of their own but couldn’t use the wind to their advantage in the first half.
Georgetown’s offense started to create chances in the second half. Freshman defender Kelly Ann Livingstone’s header flew just over the bar following a short corner between Corboz and Germino-Watnick. Five minutes later, Monaghan forced a diving save from Schechtman as she created an extra foot of space against Georgetown sophomore defender Meaghan Nally, who shadowed the junior forward the whole match.
The best chance fell to junior forward Caitlin Farrell in the 67th minute. After a driving run from redshirt sophomore forward Amanda Carolan, Farrell found herself unmarked from nine yards out. Unfortunately for her, her first touch didn’t settle quickly enough on the turf and a defender was able to close her down, forcing a shot that sailed wide to the right of Butler freshman goalkeeper Leonie Doege’s goal.
The Hoyas started a spell of possession and pinned Butler deep into its own defensive third. Corboz couldn’t direct her first time shot from a rebound on frame but forced a smart save from Doege in the 79th minute with a left-footed snap shot on the edge of the box. Neither team would come closer to a winner in regulation as the top two defenses in the Big East shut out the opposing offense to force overtime.
Despite attacking into the wind, the Hoyas carried their momentum from the second half into the first overtime period, forcing two saves from Doege as they pushed to end the match quickly. Doege came all the way up from her goal to take a free kick from 45 yards to try to catch Schechtman sleeping, but the shot from the freshman goalkeeper fizzed wide of the post.
Butler made a strong push to win the match in the second overtime period and nearly found it through DiSarcina. In the 103rd minute, a ball over the top left the forward one-on-one with a charging Schechtman. DiSarcina’s first attempt to poke the ball home deflected off of Schechtman’s foot back onto DiSarcina’s, but the first save gave Nally time to recover and make a sliding block on DiSarcina’s second attempt to prevent the golden goal for Butler.
In the 108th minute, Butler junior forward Halle Stelbasky got on the end of a corner but could only direct her header into the waiting arms of Schechtman. The game finished scoreless, earning Georgetown and Butler their 13th and 14th shutouts on the season, respectively.
The Hoyas return home to play Xavier (8-6-4, 4-2-2 Big East) on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. A Georgetown win clinches the top seed in the Big East tournament for the Hoyas and ensures that the road to a Big East title will go through Shaw Field.
