Consistency is the mark of a good team, and Georgetown women’s soccer (3-1-2, BIG EAST) has been the model of consistency for over a decade now. The team has been on top of the BIG EAST for four years running. Still, the Hoyas have failed to make a deep NCAA Tournament run in that time, and this season’s team is looking for the goalscoring that can bring them to new heights. Head Coach Dave Nolan tries to set realistic expectations for the team while still pushing for the Hoyas to realize their full potential.
“I think our history and our records suggests that we’re a team that wants to fight for the conference championship, which we’ve done successfully winning seven of the last eight [seasons] and winning four in a row. We want to make the NCAA tournament, which we’ve now made 12 consecutive times,” Nolan said. “So we’re very proud of that, but it doesn’t mean also that if we don’t achieve that, that we haven’t reached our goals. I think our goal is to try and ultimately be the best version of ourselves.”
Last season, however, the team could not replicate that success in the NCAA Tournament. The Hoyas lost 2-1 in the second round to a strong Saint Louis team. The Hoyas weren’t at their best on that day, and ultimately came up short in a difficult match. Nolan spoke about the difficulties of making a deep postseason run, where one mistake can end the team’s season in an interview with the Voice.
“There’s a big difference between being seeded eight and being seeded nine. So normally I wouldn’t have expected us to play a team of Saint Louis’ caliber in the second round. That should have been a third round matchup. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to beat the teams who are in front of you,” Nolan said. “The last couple of years, we’ve had some tough games against some really good teams, and we’ve just come up a little bit short. When you get down to those elite matchups against top teams, everything has to go right on the day.”
The NCAA Tournament loss was particularly painful for two of the team’s leaders, goalkeeper Allie Augur and defender Julia Leas. Augur and Leas were two cornerstones of last season’s Hoya defense, but their time with the team ended with the loss to Saint Louis. Nolan knows that this season’s team will miss their voices, but trusts that his returning and new players will step up to fill that void.
“For the last four years, five years, we’ve had pretty consistent voices in Julia [Leas] and Allie [Augur] basically pulling strings, organizing people, pushing people, and demanding of people. And that’s probably the one void we have right now is we’re waiting for somebody to pop up,” Nolan said. “So we need it from committee. We need it from all our seniors.”
One of the seniors who has stepped into a leadership role this season is forward Maja Lardner. Lardner has four goals in six games so far this season, leading the team. However, she doesn’t have to go it alone. Six different Hoyas have scored so far this season, showcasing Georgetown’s balanced attack.
Balance on offense is important for the Hoyas moving forward, especially in light of some of the team’s struggles last year. In 2023, Georgetown averaged just 1.5 goals per game—a low number for a team with such a talented roster. Last year’s defense was so strong that often, it didn’t matter if the team’s offense could only manage a goal or two—the Hoyas won seven games last year with a 1-0 scoreline. However, as Nolan explained, this year’s team is trying to exorcize Georgetown’s offensive demons with sharp passing and individual brilliance.
“We try and rely on speed of play and combination play to move the ball and penetrate into the middle of the field, which tends to be the most clogged area of the field,” Nolan said. “But then I feel when we get the ball wide, we have dangerous players in Maja [Lardner] and in Natalie [Means] that we rely on their ability to break down defenders in 1v1 battles, and then to ultimately end up with some good deliveries in the box for teammates.”
It’s still early this season, but dominant 5-0 and 6-0 wins against Quinnipiac and Lafayette show that this team has huge goalscoring potential, albeit against two of the weaker teams on Georgetown’s schedule. Tough matches against No. 18 Pepperdine (3-2-2, West Coast) and No. 12 Penn State (5-1-1, Big Ten) on Sep. 5 and 8 showed that the Hoyas need to bring their best against top-tier opponents.
Georgetown lost 2-1 against Pepperdine at home on Shaw Field. The Hoyas had more shots than the Waves, but the visitors were more clinical. The Hoyas tied Penn State 0-0, but Georgetown needed a crucial penalty kick save from junior goalkeeper Cara Martin to preserve the tie. In two home games against ranked opponents, the Hoyas only managed a single goal. That’s something that has to improve for Georgetown to realize their potential. The Hoyas have plenty of attacking firepower, and if they can consistently make the most of their talent and teamwork on offense, there are very few teams that have any hope of stopping them.
The Hoyas face a tough test in their final non-conference game on Sunday, Sep. 15, when they travel to New Jersey to play the Princeton Tigers (3-1, Ivy League). The game starts at 5 p.m. EST and it will be broadcast on ESPN+. For continued coverage and updates on Georgetown sports, follow @GUVoiceSports on X, formerly known as Twitter.
