On Wednesday night, the Georgetown women’s soccer team (1-1-1, Big East) battled it out with No. 10 Duke Blue Devils (1-1-1, ACC), but after 90 minutes and two overtime periods, the matchup ended in a scoreless draw.
Georgetown’s first real chance came after a dribbling skill combination by senior forward Paula Germino-Watnick, who then played the ball to freshman midfielder Julia Leas. Leas’ left-footed shot flew just over the crossbar. The Blue Devils responded in the 34th minute with their best chance of the half, when junior defender Taylor Mitchell played a bouncing ball to sophomore forward Marykate McGuire. McGuire did a wonderful job to settle the ball, but her shot was off target. Just before the end of the first half, the Hoyas almost got on the scoresheet. A free kick from senior defender Meaghan Nally took a few deflections and nearly fell to Leas but contact with a Duke defender put Leas off balance and she was unable to put the ball in the net.
Other than those chances, the first half was mostly a midfield battle. Duke’s star freshman midfielder Sophie Jones was the key player involved in their attacks, but Georgetown senior midfielders Sarah Trissel and Carson Nzialek did well to contain her. The Hoyas, on the other hand, looked most dangerous whenever sophomore wingbacks Jenna Royson and Boo Jackson got past their player, opening up space for Germino-Watnick and Leas to work with.
In the second half, Georgetown’s midfield and defense shut Duke down every time they tried to move the ball upfield. Nally had her best performance of the season thus far, breaking up every hint of a Duke opportunity. On offense, however, the Blue and Gray continued to struggle. Senior forward Amanda Carolan, who scored in both of the first two matches, was quiet all game. The Hoyas earned a few corners and set pieces, but never posed any real threat. In fact, they only had one shot on goal the entire game.
In the last ten minutes of regulation, GU looked fatigued. The Blue Devils appeared to be through on goal in the 80th minute, but Nally was there to stop them once again. Regulation ended scoreless, sending the teams into sudden death overtime.
Duke was the dominant side in both overtime periods, but Georgetown’s stellar backline kept them at bay. The game ended in a scoreless draw.
Although the Hoyas will be disappointed that they couldn’t get the win, there are many positive for Georgetown to take away from this game. Most importantly, they went toe-to-toe with another top 15 school without repeating any of the defensive mistakes which cost them against NC State.
“Before going into Big East play, it’s important that we have that challenge, that we know what we need to work on, and they definitely will exploit any weaknesses that we may have,” Carolan said.
The Hoyas continue their season on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET on Shaw Field against Bucknell (1-2-0, Patriot League). Live stats and a stream are available at guhoyas.com. Follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter for updates and game recaps throughout the women’s soccer season, as well as coverage of the rest of the school sports throughout the year.
