The Georgetown field hockey team (6-1, 0-1 Big East) finished their weekend in Philadelphia 1-1, dropping their first game of the season to Villanova (3-4, 1-0 Big East) 5-2 on Friday before rebounding with a 3-2 win over La Salle (3-4, 0-1 A-10) on Sunday. Junior midfielder Michaela Bruno four points over the weekend to lead the team.
In their Big East opener, the Hoyas struck first against Villanova on freshman midfielder Halle Gill’s goal, her second of the season. Villanova would score twice before halftime, however, to head into the break with a 2-1 lead. The Hoyas were unable to capitalize on any of their other five first-half shots, which would cost them dearly as the second half began and the Wildcats stretched their lead to four on goals by two juniors, forward Lydia Sydnor and midfield/back Christen Pennington, who scored twice. Senior forward Helena Masiello pulled one back for the Hoyas late, with sophomore midfielder Jax van der Veen assisting the final goal of the match. Freshman goalie Ciara Weets was kept busy in net, seeing fifteen shots and recording four saves in the game, the only time in which the Hoyas have conceded more than twice this season.
Two days later, the young Hoyas team showed their resilience against the La Salle Explorers. Coming off their first defeat of the season Friday, the Hoyas fell behind against the run of play at the 14:41 mark on a goal by La Salle sophomore forward Amber Blackshear. Faced with the possibility of returning to DC 0-2 on the weekend, Bruno stepped up with her second tally of the season at 31:22 to even the score. After the break, sophomore forward Cami Osborne was assisted by van der Veen to give the Hoyas a lead they would not relinquish. Another tally by Bruno on a penalty stroke at 45:14 pushed the advantage to two, while Weets and the Georgetown defense bunkered down from there, conceding only once despite allowing ten second-half shots from the Explorers, of which Weets made four saves. The Hoyas were ruthlessly efficient in front of the cage to claw out the victory, placing five of their seven shots on target.
Next weekend, it’s up to New England for the Hoyas as they face Quinnipiac and Brown in another Friday/Sunday pair of matchups before returning to Cooper Field the following Friday, September 28, to square off with No. 25 Old Dominion. Follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter for gameday updates and breaking news.
