Coming off a 1-0 win against St. John’s last week, the No. 23 Georgetown women’s soccer team (6-1-3, 2-0-0 Big East) kept up their streak and defeated Creighton (4-2-4, 0-2-0 Big East) in their second conference game. The Hoyas dominated the game, with the offensive line keeping possession and following through on opportunities. Gia Vicari, Maja Lardner, Tatum Lenain, and Natalie Means all scored and led the team to a 4-0 victory.
The match started slowly, with the first shot on goal – a header by graduate defender Maya Alcantara – not arriving until the thirteenth minute. Georgetown had the majority of the possession, but Creighton grew into the game, with graduate forward Juelle Love blazing a shot over the near post from close range seventeen minutes in. Three minutes later, Love unleashed a long-range chip that Georgetown freshman keeper Cara Martin was fortunate to see hit the roof of the net.
As the clock hit the thirty-minute mark, the Hoyas began to find their footing. Sophomore forward Maja Lardner’s incisive cross-field through ball to freshman winger Natalie Means spurred a desperate defensive push from Creighton to foil the Georgetown attack. . Just two minutes later, however, the Bluejays could only watch helplessly as senior forward Gia Vicari completed an Arjen Robben-esque cut inside from the sideline to the top of the box and unleashed a left-footed strike into the top left corner to make it 1-0. The floodgates were open, and in the 35th minute, Creighton keeper Keelan Terrell’s attempted clearance fell right to graduate forward Boo Jackson at the top of the box. Terrell parried her low shot right into the path of Lardner, who tapped into an empty net at the back post for Georgetown’s second goal.
Georgetown piled on the pressure in the final 10 minutes of the half, with midfielders Maya Fernandez-Powell and Julia Leas and forwards Sofie Fox and Lardner all sending dangerous shots toward the Creighton net. The Hoyas defense, by contrast, saw little action for the remainder of the half. Georgetown’s keeper Martin comfortably caught a rising strike from well outside the box, but besides that, Creighton barely threatened at all during this period. The Blue Jays were fortunate to make it to the halftime whistle without conceding the third goal.
The Blue and Gray continued their momentum coming into the second half. Within the first few minutes, Georgetown was on the attack, pressuring the Creighton defensive line in a series of shots. In the 49th minute, junior midfielder Tatum Lenain capitalized on Creighton’s weak clearance out of the box, sending the ball flying into the top corner and widening the Hoya’s lead to 3-0.
Creighton continued to put up a good fight, blocking Georgetown’s attempts to increase their lead and challenging freshman goalkeeper Cara Martin. Still, the Hoyas quickly took back control and moved onto the offensive. As play entered the 55th minute, the ball found freshman forward Natalie Means. Means crossed it to senior forward Gia Vicari at the back post, but the Blue Jays’ defense managed to clear the pass. The two repeated this play soon after, with Means breaking away on the right wing and playing the ball across the goal to Vicari, who barely missed the shot. The freshman Means continued to be a force on the offensive line, providing the Hoyas multiple attempts to raise the score as she again drove down the right wing and found sophomore midfielder Claire Manning whose shot on goal was blocked by Creighton’s goalkeeper.
Nearing the final minutes of play, Georgetown pressured the box and took advantage of an unlucky clearance by Creighton. Natalie Means met the ball in the middle of the box and powered the ball into the bottom left corner of the net with a left-footed shot. With a final score of 4-0, the Hoyas solidified their win and extended their shutout streak.
The Hoyas will look to extend their formidable shutout streak and seven-game unbeaten run as they head north to Storrs, Connecticut, to take on the UCONN Huskies (5-3-1, 1-1 Big East) this Thursday at 7 P.M. Eastern Time. Follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter for more updates and coverage of all fall sports at Georgetown.
