As the spring semester begins, the Voice looks back on the highlights and lowlights from all the active fall sports last semester. Nine women’s teams and eight men’s teams competed for Georgetown over 10 different disciplines in the busiest season for Hoya sports, providing plenty of inspiring, or, at minimum, entertaining storylines.
Cross Country
Georgetown’s men’s and women’s cross country teams had a strong 2024 season, capped off by competing at the NCAA Championships in November. Georgetown women’s cross country team won their fifth consecutive BIG EAST Championship, led by senior Chloe Scrimgeour, who placed third overall. Graduate student Abel Teffra led the men’s cross country team to third place in the BIG EAST after he finished in ninth place among individual competitors. The season culminated at the NCAA Championships in Madison, Wisconsin. The women’s team placed ninth, and the men’s team ended up 23rd, with Scrimgeour and Teffra again leading the way for the Hoyas. On the individual and team level, Georgetown cross country excelled this fall season.
Field Hockey
Georgetown field hockey experienced another difficult season, ending in a 3-14 (1-6 BIG EAST) record. Although a three-win season was an improvement from last year’s 1-17 (0-7 BIG EAST) record, field hockey still struggled to compete, especially against BIG EAST opponents.
Senior midfielder/forward Sophie Towne and freshman midfielder Colleen Maloney led the way for Georgetown on offense with three goals each on the season. One of the season highlights was Georgetown’s sole BIG EAST win over Quinnipiac (2-17, 0-7 BIG EAST). Sophomore midfielder/forward Elena Perez Alejandro scored a game-winning goal in overtime, giving the Hoyas the come-from-behind victory.
The Hoyas had a significant change this year, playing at a new home field. Last year, Georgetown hosted their home games at Towson University in Towson, Maryland—64 miles away from the Hilltop and further than any other Division I school’s home venue. This year, though, Hoya home games returned to the University of Maryland Field Hockey Complex in College Park, Maryland, where Georgetown field hockey played in 2007, 2008, 2012, and 2013. College Park is just 17 miles from Georgetown’s campus, a significantly shorter distance than last year.
Football
In some ways, this season was déjà vu for Georgetown football. The Hoyas finished 5-6 and ended up in fourth place in the Patriot League for the second year in a row, albeit with one less conference win than in 2023. This season especially stung, as the Hoyas had a 5-3 record with three games left to play, needing just one more win to achieve their first winning season since 2011. Still, another five-win season equals head coach Rob Sgarlata’s best win total since he took over the program in 2014. However, Sgarlata has recorded four 5-6 seasons in the past six years, a consistent mediocrity sufficient for some but frustrating for others.
For a program that hasn’t had a winning season since the 2011 run, this year featured some stellar moments. The Hoyas defeated Columbia (7-3, 5-2 Ivy League) 20-17 in an upset victory at Cooper Field. Junior wide receiver Jimmy Kibble stood out on the Hoyas’ offense, averaging 72 yards per game and finishing third in the Patriot League for receiving yards. Georgetown’s defense also featured excellent performances, with sophomore safety Zeraun Daniel leading the Patriot League in interceptions.
However, the Hoyas too often struggled to stop the run. Georgetown allowed more rushing yards than passing yards; the only team in the Patriot League to do so. In games against Lehigh (5-1, 9-4 Patriot League) and Colgate (2-10, 1-5 Patriot League), Georgetown allowed 310 yards and 272 yards on the ground, respectively the highest and third-highest rushing performances in a Patriot League game all season. With crucial players like Kibble and Daniel returning next season, the Hoyas are poised for a big 2025 season if they can address some of their rushing woes.
Men’s Golf
Georgetown men’s golf will be entering 2025 with momentum after peaking right at the end of the fall season. The Hoyas started the season with a third-place finish (out of 12 teams) at the USF/Howard Intercollegiate. The Hoyas faltered a bit in their next two competitions before regaining their momentum at the Georgetown Intercollegiate, yet again finishing third place (out of 12). Then, everything finally clicked for the Hoyas at the ODU/OBX Intercollegiate, winning first place thanks to strong performances across the board.
Sophomore Barnes Blake led the way for the Hoyas at the ODU/OBX Intercollegiate with 13 birdies to finish -under-par. Blake finished fourth place overall, his best career leaderboard placement. Freshman CJ Winchenbaugh shone for the Hoyas all season, consistently placing high on the leaderboards. Men’s golf will resume play later this semester on March 10 at the Donald Ross Collegiate.
Women’s Golf
Georgetown women’s golf had a difficult start to the season, finishing last at the Cougar Classic and tied for eighth (out of 12 teams) at the Cavalier Regional Preview. However, the Hoyas had an impressive second half of the season, ending up with two podium finishes—second at the Princeton Invitational and third at the Blue Hen Invitational.
Graduate student Megan Gormley and senior Georgia Ruffolo put in impressive performances this year, often ending up as the top two finishers for Georgetown. Gormly was named BIG EAST Female Golfer of the Week after the Cougar Classic, where she recorded the Hoyas’ best score. Ruffolo also won BIG EAST Female Golfer of the Week after her play at the Big Hen Invitational. She shot four-under over the invitational’s three rounds, finishing second overall. Georgetown women’s golf returns to action on Feb. 2 at the Therese Hession Challenge in Palos Verdes, California.
Men’s Rowing
Georgetown men’s rowing started the season with the Navy Day Regatta, where three boats competed in the 8+ category, for racing shells with eight rowers. The Hoyas’ best boat finished third overall out of 26. Next, Georgetown competed at the Head of the Charles, the largest three-day regatta in the world. There, Georgetown’s Lightweight Eight A boat placed sixth out of 13 competitors. The final competition of the fall semester was the Princeton Chase, where Georgetown’s Lightweight A finished in fourth place, and the Heavyweight A boat secured fifth place, capping off the fall competition season.
Women’s Rowing
Georgetown women’s rowing also began their season at the Navy Day Regatta, competing in the 4+ and 8+ divisions. Georgetown had boats finish in third place in both divisions for a strong start to the season. The women’s team also competed at the Head of the Charles, and the Lightweight 8+ boat led the way with a fifth-place finish out of eight boats. Finally, the Hoyas swept the Head of the Occoquan Regatta with first-place finishes in all the varsity and JV divisions.
Sailing
Georgetown’s sailing team had an outstanding start to the fall season, with seven first-place finishes in their first eight competitions. The highlight of this run happened at Cornell, where the Hoyas comfortably won both the Women’s and Coed regattas, with four of Georgetown’s boats winning their divisions. Senior Piper Holthus and freshman crew Scarlett Harris dominated the Women’s A division on their way to an emphatic 36-point victory. Seniors Mateo Di Blasi and Caro Gaston had an even more dominant 40-point victory in the coed A division.
The Hoyas finished second in the MAISA Women’s Conference Championship Regatta, falling short of the champions Cornell. At the ICSA Open Singlehanded Nationals, sophomore Peter Barnard finished sixth in the country, and junior Benjamin Smith took 12th place. On the women’s side, Holthus earned 12th place at the ICSA Open Singlehanded Nationals, capping off a successful fall semester.
Men’s Soccer
As one of Georgetown’s most successful sports programs, Hoya fans have high expectations for Georgetown men’s soccer every season. This year, the Hoyas ended up 11-5-5 (5-2-1 BIG EAST) and secured the program’s sixth BIG EAST Championship, earning the No. 4 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Hoyas were poised to make a deep NCAA Tournament run and compete for their first National Championship since 2019. Unfortunately, Georgetown fell in their first NCAA Tournament game for the second year in a row, losing to a much lower-seeded team. This time, NC State (10-5-5, 3-3-2 ACC) handed Georgetown a 2-0 loss on Shaw Field to end the Hoyas’ season prematurely.
Sophomore midfielder Matthew Van Horn was Georgetown’s top scorer on the season, with six goals and three assists. However, Georgetown’s defense impressed the most, allowing just 0.81 goals per game, the 10th best in the nation by that metric. Senior defender Maximus Jennings and junior goalkeeper Tenzing Manske deserve tremendous credit for the team’s defensive strength this fall.
Women’s Soccer
Women’s soccer (13-2-7, 8-1-1 BIG EAST) stands as another of the most successful programs at Georgetown, always contending for conference titles and competing in national tournaments. The Hoyas had an impressive record in the regular season, winning the BIG EAST regular season title for the third year in a row. However, Georgetown lost unexpectedly to UConn in the BIG EAST Tournament semifinals, failing to win the conference title for the first time since 2019. In postseason play, the Hoyas dominated Fairfield (18-2-1, 10-1-1 MAAC) 3-0, setting up a matchup against the Iowa Hawkeyes (15-3-4, 8-2-1 Big Ten) in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Iowa won 1-0 in a hard-fought match, ending Georgetown’s season.
Georgetown usually prides itself as a tough defensive team, but this year’s squad was exceptionally strong at the back. The Hoyas had the third-lowest amount of goals allowed per game in the NCAA, 0.476. It almost sounds made up, but they gave up fewer than a goal every two games. Georgetown’s goalkeepers—junior Cara Martin and graduate student Anna Karpenko—both saved more than 80 percent of the shots they faced.
One area for improvement from last season was goalscoring, particularly in key moments. The Hoyas improved greatly on their goals per game number from last year, thanks in large part to the efforts of senior Maja Lardner, who tallied 11 goals and seven assists this season.
Volleyball
Georgetown volleyball (11-19, 4-14 BIG EAST) started the season strong at their first few invitational tournaments, going undefeated at the Maryland Invitational and the DC Showdown on the way to a 7-5 non-conference record. However, BIG EAST play would prove to be more difficult for the Hoyas. Georgetown lost 14 conference games, only recording four wins against BIG EAST opponents. They still ended the season on a high note, with a straight-sets victory over Butler on Senior Night.
Freshman outside hitter Dionna Mitchell led the Hoyas in kills and service aces during her first season on the Hilltop. Mitchell ended up with 356 kills and 26 aces on her way to a unanimous selection to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team. Mitchell’s contributions will be important for the team’s future as Georgetown looks for its first winning season since 2018.
