Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

FIELD HOCKEY GU Snags First Victory Of Season From LaSalle

Tim Llewellyn/The Hoya Junior forward Michaela Brown was one of the Hoyas’ sporting a red, white and blue bandana Thursday against LaSalle.

After a week of disrupted practices and three canceled games, the Georgetown field hockey team finally got back to business yesterday, downing LaSalle 3-0. With stars-and-stripes bandannas on their heads, the Hoyas showed that they hadn’t lost a step.

“It’s certainly not normal. We had to conquer some fears. Hearing the national anthem for the first time in a game situation was an emotional moment for our team. But they were proud,” Georgetown Head Coach Laurie Carroll said.

It was the first win of the season for Georgetown, as they improved to 1-2. LaSalle’s record fell to 2-3.

Sophomore midfielder Elena Elster, last season’s scoring leader, netted her first two goals of the season while junior goalkeeper Jessica Herring posted her first shutout.

The Hoyas have been trying to focus on getting out to a quick start, and that was exactly what they did Thursday. Just four minutes into the game, Elster scored on a penalty corner assisted by sophomore midfielder Shelby Samperton.

“Sometimes we’ve wasted a half or we’ve wasted the first few minutes of a game, and we’ve waited for something to happen, so we just talked about not wasting an opportunity and [jumping] right in,” Carroll said.

The corner unit of Elster, Samperton and sophomore forward Leeanne Rizzo had yet to score this season, whereas Elster provided many of last season’s goals on corners.

Less than two minutes after the opening score, sophomore forward Beth Gagnon put in the rebound of a misguided corner shot by Elster to put the Hoyas up 2-0. On the next corner opportunity at 23:58, Elster scored again to put the Hoyas ahead for good.

“The last few days [the corner unit] just felt more confident. I think today they just felt like if they got a corner they had a good chance of scoring,” Carroll said.

The Hoyas were clearly dominant offensively, getting 15 shots on goal compared to the Explorers’ two. The Hoyas demonstrated a strong passing game, with sophomore defenders Nora Mirando and Lauren Galbally making clear passes up the field to the offense. “They clicked today,” Carroll said.

Junior forward Michaela Brown was also instrumental in drawing the corners that led to the goals in the first half.

The Hoya defense, led by senior captain Bridget McConnell, also played well. Herring saved both shots on goal that she saw.

“We really tried to step up and stop LaSalle before they even hit the 25 [yard line] and stop them from getting in the circle.”

The Hoyas are back on the field today as they face St. Joseph’s at 3:30 p.m. on Kehoe field.

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