Georgetown women’s soccer (10-1-7, 6-0-4 BIG EAST) defeated the Butler Bulldogs (5-7-6, 1-3-5 BIG EAST) 4-2 in a come-from-behind win on Sunday afternoon, snagging at least a share of the BIG EAST Regular Season Championship title.
The first 20 minutes of the match saw Butler breaking through the Hoyas’ veteran defense with surprising ease. Freshman forward Lucia Englund notched a goal just 10 minutes into the game. Freshman forward, Norah Jacomen, followed quickly with another goal assisted by senior midfielder Arianna Jalics, to put the Bulldogs up 2-0. There wasn’t much more that Georgetown’s graduate goalkeeper Allie Augur could have done to block the well-placed shots.
On the other side of the field, the Hoyas had several offensive opportunities that they didn’t capitalize on. Butler’s defense was playing well, but Georgetown was also often crossing the ball only for no one to be there to shoot. The Hoyas’ biggest obstacle, though, was correctly timing their runs; they were called offsides three times in the first 20 minutes.
Georgetown’s first real scoring opportunity came on an indirect kick. They had three players lined up as if they were going to kick the ball in order to fake out Butler; unfortunately, the ploy worked a little too well, as one Hoya made her run before the ball was kicked and a header goal was called offsides.
However, that final offsides call seemed to light a fire under the Hoyas’ offense. Graduate midfielder Grace Sherman headed the ball in a minute later off of an assist from junior forward Maja Lardner. Graduate defender Brianne Riley then scored with an assist from graduate forward Allie Winstanley to tie things up, 2-2, for the Hoyas’ second goal in a ninety-second span.
To finish the half, sophomore forward Natalie Means made a run all the way down the field, but her shot went wide.
The second half started off as a back-and-forth battle. Georgetown seemed to have the advantage, but both teams struggled to find the back of the net.
With just 16 minutes left to play, junior defender captain Eliza Turner launched a shot from outside of the box to give the Hoyas the 3-2 lead. Four minutes later, sophomore midfielder Shay Montgomery knocked another one into the bottom left corner off of an assist from Sherman.
Georgetown managed to hold onto the ball for the majority of the rest of the game, despite increased fouling from Butler, and closed things out 4-2. Their win secured them at least a share of the regular season title, and they’ll be the sole champions if Xavier (12-2-4, 5-0-4 BIG EAST) ties or loses to Marquette (5-9-4, 2-5-2 BIG EAST) on Thursday. The Hoyas have also secured a first-round bye for the BIG EAST Tournament.
Georgetown next plays in the semifinals on Thursday, Nov. 2 at the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Md. Kickoff time and opponent are to be determined. For continued coverage of Georgetown sports, follow @GUVoiceSports on X.
