On Friday afternoon at Cooper Field, Georgetown University field hockey (9-8, 3-4 Big East) took down Big East rival Villanova (6-12, 1-5 Big East) by a score of 2-1 in regulation. Prior to the game, Georgetown had the opportunity to sneak into the Big East tournament, as the fourth and final seed, with a victory over Villanova and a UConn victory vs. Temple. Unfortunately, Temple downed UConn, ending Georgetown’s postseason hopes. However, if Georgetown can beat Richmond in their final game on Sunday, it would mark just the second winning season in program history.
The game started under steady rain that continued throughout the entirety of the game. Despite the weather conditions, Villanova came out strong and dominated the time of possession during the first ten minutes. The ball seemed to always be on Villanova’s side of the field, and eventually this led to the first penalty corner of the game being awarded to Villanova. Georgetown’s defense stood strong, behind the leadership of senior center back, Sydney Stephenson cleared the ball out of the circle before Villanova could even attempt a shot.
Georgetown’s defense continually intercepted passes and halted sideline attacks made by Villanova. With 5 minutes left in the first quarter, Georgetown freshman midfielder Emma Van Der Veen made a strong counterattack run into the circle and was awarded a corner after Villanova’s defender did not give five yards of space after an initial foul. This was Georgetown’s first corner of the day, which occurred later than usual, as Georgetown led the Big East in corners awarded per game this season. Graduate midfielder Ali Cronin sent the ball to Stephenson who got a clean shot off but missed the cage just wide right.
The first quarter ended with both teams earning a single corner. Despite Villanova’s early possession domination, Georgetown began to hold the ball in their zone with better success during the final minutes of the quarter.
The second quarter began with an immediate odd man rush for Villanova and a cross inside the circle that led to a shot missing wide right. Senior goalie Ciara Weets seemingly had the net covered, but nonetheless, this was the best scoring opportunity up until that point. The defensive battle continued into the second quarter as Georgetown tried to muster up chances at the net. One opportunity came when sophomore Vivienne Trumpbour intercepted a pass and ran down the sideline eventually pushing a pass to the far side post where graduate attacker Emma Street almost found the back of the cage. Villanova then stopped Georgetown’s second corner of the day by intercepting a pass inside the circle and clearing the ball to safety.
The early second quarter ball possession displayed by Georgetown was almost squandered when Villanova’s Amanda Middleman received an outlet pass past all of Georgetown defenders and was one on one with Weets. Weets, who leads the Big East in save percentage, continued her excellence by making a sliding kick save to keep the score tied at zero a piece. The defensive battle amongst the rain continued into halftime as both teams still had not found the back of the net.
Georgetown, feeling the pressure of the must win game, came out hot in the third quarter, immediately earning a penalty corner within a minute. After the initial pass inside the circle was deflected, the ball found Street who managed to swipe a pass to Trumpbour across the circle. Her shot finally found the back of the cage, giving Georgetown a 1-0 lead.
After the fast offensive start to the quarter, the third quarter continued the game’s theme of an offensive struggle. The third quarter’s most important play came when Weets was tasked with making another one on one stop, which she successfully kicked away and cleared, ending Villanova’s chance of scoring.
As the game reached the fourth quarter, the rain began to pick up even harder and with that came Georgetown’s offense. A counterattack push off of an intercepted ball on Villanova’s side of the field led to freshman midfielder Sophie Towne pushing the ball down the middle of the field with only the goalkeeper ahead of her. A collision between Towne and Villanova’s goalkeeper Jordan McGinley led to the officials awarding Georgetown a penalty stroke. Towne was given the opportunity to give Georgetown some breathing room and she capitalized by flicking the ball past McGinley’s diving attempt to cement Georgetown’s 2-0 lead with 6:33 remaining.
With the immediate pressure off of the Hoyas, Villanova’s desperate attempts to make it a competitive game put pressure on Georgetown’s defense. Only 2 minutes after Towne’s goal, Villanova pushed a long outlet pass to Meghan Mitchell who found herself with no one ahead of her except Weets. Weets, who had already squandered Villanova’s two wide open breakaway attempts, finally allowed her first goal of the game and, just like that, Villanova was back within one score.
After three minutes of both teams struggling to maintain possession, Georgetown finally made a run into the circle when senior midfielder Halle Gill pushed the ball off a defender’s foot and gave Georgetown their fourth corner of the day. The opportunity to finally put the game out of reach was halted when Cronin’s shot was stopped by the Villanova defense. Villanova, eager to mount a last minute comeback, attempted to pass the ball down the field and earn a penalty corner to stop the clock. However, Georgetown’s defense stayed poised and held strong to fight off the immediate threat and watch the time expire, giving Georgetown their ninth victory of the season
Despite an exciting end to Georgetown’s final Big East Matchup, the unfortunate outcome of the Temple-UConn game ended their playoff hopes. Sunday will be Georgetown’s final game of the 2021 season, where the team will honor their seniors, when they face off against Richmond at 12:00 pm on Cooper Field. Follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter for more updates and coverage of all fall sports at Georgetown.
