The No. 4 Georgetown women’s soccer team (15-0-2, 8-0 Big East) finishes its conference slate against Xavier (10-7-1, 4-3-1 Big East) on Thursday night in Cincinnati. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. ET, and the game will be streamed on the Big East Digital Network.
The Hoyas clinched the Big East regular season title with their 2-0 win over Butler (11-5-1, 5-2-1 Big East) on Sunday and have a chance to finish the Big East regular season with a perfect 9-0 record, a feat last accomplished by Marquette in 2013. Senior forward Caitlin Farrell leads the way for the Georgetown attack with 15 goals and two assists on the season to lead the conference in both goals and points. Graduate student forward Kyra Carusa is tied for first place in the conference with seven assists, and senior goalkeeper Arielle Schechtman leads the Big East in goals allowed (4), save percentage (.938), and shutouts (11). Georgetown has a +20 goal difference in conference games and leads the Big East in all major statistical categories except saves, offsides, fouls, and yellow cards.
The Hoyas will still face a stern test from the Musketeers, who only lost last year’s contest 1-0 to a Rachel Corboz free kick, and now boast the second highest scoring offense in the conference. Currently sitting at fourth place in the conference, Xavier has won three of its last five, scoring three goals in each of its wins. The other two results in that string of games were a 0-0 draw against second-place Butler and a 1-0 loss to third-place St. John’s (9-7-1, 5-2-1 Big East).
“Last year, I felt they were just playing to get a result,” Georgetown head coach Dave Nolan said. “They’re better this year, and I think there’s a little bit of pressure on them to get a win, so I think they’re going to have to be a little bit more open.”
The match has much more riding on it for Xavier. While they’ve qualified for the Big East Tournament and can’t earn a first round bye, the result against Georgetown will affect who and where they play the quarterfinals.
“They’re fourth, and they have a chance to host a play-in game, a quarterfinal matchup, if they lost to us, and the teams below them win, they have to go on the road for a play-in game,” Nolan said.
Redshirt junior forward Samantha Dewey scored in each of the last three wins and notched an assist in two of them to cement her spot as the Musketeers’ attacking focal point. On the season, Dewey has eight goals and six assists. The Musketeers will hope that Dewey makes the difference for them as they face a defense that has only allowed six goals on the season.
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