FIELD HOCKEY | Futility Continues In Connecticut

The Georgetown field hockey team (2-14, 0-4 Big East) lost a pair of road games this weekend, falling Saturday to No. 4 Connecticut, 4-1, and then to Fairfield, 6-0, on Sunday.

The Hoyas began their trip in Storrs, Conn., where they faced the perennially strong Huskies (15-0, 4-0 Big East). The Blue and Gray struggled to compete against UConn’s high-octane offense, which recorded 39 shots on goal compared to the Blue and Gray’s three.

Those shots combined to give Connecticut a 4-0 lead at the intermission. Georgetown improved in the second half, however, and senior goalkeeper Briana Pereira recorded a career-high 17 saves to keep the Huskies scoreless after halftime.

“After the first half, we talked about the goals they scored and realized that they were not that great,” Head Coach Tiffany Marsh said. “They were just simple mistakes on our part, and we saw that there was nothing to be intimidated by. Our confidence stepped up.”

The Blue and Gray were also able to register a goal in the second half when senior Annie Wilson, Georgetown’s leading goal scorer, earned her fifth goal with three minutes left on the clock. It was too little, too late, though, as the Hoyas fell 4-1.

“Annie works harder than anyone on the field, including our team and our opponents,” Marsh said. “She is a very unselfish player and is all over the field. She really is our team’s rock.”

Although a win against a top-five team was always unlikely, Georgetown was hopeful it could break its nine-game losing streak at Fairfield Sunday. Instead, the team was held scoreless for the first time in 10 games, losing 6-0.

“All season long, the second game of the weekend has always been hard for us,” Marsh said.

Fairfield (8-8, 0-3 America East) also dominated at the box, firing 27 shot attempts while Georgetown once again could only manage three shots. After a 20-minute scoring standoff, the Stags tallied two goals to take a 2-0 lead to the break.

“At halftime, even though we were down, we felt confident that we were in control of the game,” Marsh said. “Their two goals were two defensive breakdowns.”

Pereira turned in the opposite of her Saturday second half performance on Sunday, when she allowed two goals before being substituted out of the game in favor of sophomore Emma Hamstra, who played the final 21 minutes.

“We came out flat in the second half,” Marsh said. “We can’t afford to play like that this late into the season.”

Although she notched five saves, Hamstra allowed two more goals, leading to the final 6-0 margin.

With another tough road trip in the books, Georgetown will have to walk the plank again in a tough home matchup when they face No. 1 Syracuse Friday in their final home game. That will be held at 3 p.m. at Maryland’s Field Hockey Complex in College Park, Md