The No. 4 Georgetown women’s soccer team (15-0-3, 8-0-1 Big East) slumped to a 0-0 draw at Xavier (10-7-2, 4-3-2 Big East) on the final day of conference play. Each team hit the bar, but neither was able to find a winner on the night.
The first half began with Georgetown on the front foot, with junior defender Meaghan Nally forcing a clearance off the line from the Musketeers in the 11th minute. However, a string of Xavier fouls throughout the first half disrupted the Hoyas’ rhythm, and neither team created any other chances of note in the first half.
The Musketeers came out firing in the second period, with freshman forward Brooke Sroka firing just wide of the target in the 50th minute. A minute later, sophomore forward Sydney Schembri hit the bar, with Georgetown senior goalkeeper Arielle Schechtman beaten. Senior forward Amanda Carolan forced a save from the Xavier junior goalkeeper Toni Bizzarro in the 60th minute as the Hoyas looked to reassert control, and, while they struggled to keep sustained possession, Georgetown looked dangerous on the counter. The Hoyas’ best chance in regulation came on one such instance, as the ball was laid back for sophomore midfielder Grace Nguyen, whose looping shot landed on the roof of the net with Bizzarro scrambling. Schechtman did well to claim a pair of corners, and the Hoyas survived a second half dominated by the Musketeers. Xavier held a 7-2 shot advantage in the second period but couldn’t capitalize, only forcing two saves from Schechtman.
Xavier kept the momentum into the first overtime period and had the best chance to win the match within 30 seconds. Schechtman claimed a long ball and tried to play a quick outlet pass to Nally but underhit her pass directly to Xavier’s top scorer, redshirt junior forward Samantha Dewey. Dewey couldn’t hit the target with Schechtman scrambling to cover the open goal, and eventually fired high under pressure from senior defender Jenna Staudt. Similar to the second half, of Xavier’s three shots in the period, only one forced a save from Schechtman.
The second overtime period was more even, with Dewey again firing high after hesitation from Schechtman on a cross. In the 106th minute came Georgetown’s best opportunity of the night, when junior midfielder Sarah Trissel pounced on a loose ball and hit a first time strike from 30 yards that cannoned off the crossbar with Bizarro stranded. Junior midfielder Paula Germino-Watnick had a chance on the rebound that she sliced just over, and neither team threatened to score again for the remainder of the match.
Xavier finishes the season in a three-way tie on points for fourth place, edging out DePaul (8-6-4, 4-3-2 Big East) and Providence (10-5-3, 4-3-2 Big East) on the head-to-head tie breaker. The Blue Demons travel to Cincinnati in the 4-5 game, the Friars go to Queens to face St. John’s (9-8-1, 5-3-1 Big East) in the 3-6 game, and Butler (12-5-1, 6-2-1 Big East) takes second place and the first round bye. As the top seed in the Big East Tournament, the Hoyas return home to await the results from the first round of the Big East Tournament for their next opponent. For updates on the tournament, as well as the other sports at Georgetown, follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter.
