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 Can’t Recover After OT Loss

It was another tough weekend for the Georgetown field hockey team (2-10, 0-2 Big East) as the Hoyas fell to both St. Francis (4-4, 0-0 Atlantic 10) and Old Dominion (5-6, 2-1 Big East). Although Georgetown came into the weekend’s games with optimism, a momentum-killing overtime loss against St. Francis carried over into Sunday’s matchup against Old Dominion.

Friday’s game ended in a 3-2 overtime loss, despite the fact that Georgetown dominated the majority of the game. When St. Francis junior defender Carissa Makea slipped the ball by freshman goalkeeper Rosalie Nolen to open the scoring, the Hoyas offense answered back immediately. Sophomore forward Sarah Butterfield scored with less than five minutes to play in the first half. Even with a tie going into the second half, however, the Hoyas still could not seem to find their rhythm. Just over two minutes into the second half, Makea scored her second goal of the night to give St. Francis a 2-1 lead.

Although the scoreboard did not reflect it, the Hoyas controlled the entire second half, outshooting the Red Flash 10-4. Georgetown finally capitalized on a play with under three minutes left in regulation. Butterfield rushed the ball into the circle and looked as if she were going to shoot when she flicked an outlet pass to teammate junior forward Molly Denzel, who was able to tap the ball into the net. The Hoyas finally gained confidence as the game headed to overtime with a comeback victory in reach.

The teams played evenly in overtime with each team gaining possession and getting opportunities to score. An unfortunate bounce six minutes into overtime off St. Francis’ junior forward Autumn Pellman’s stick handed Georgetown its ninth loss of the season.

“I was really proud of our team, that we were able to get more shots. We just couldn’t get them to fall.Overtime got the best of us, we could have put the game away there, but unfortunately it didn’t go our way,” Head Coach Tiffany Hubbard said.

With a disheartening loss to start the weekend, Georgetown moved on to Sunday’s matchup against previously ranked Old Dominion. Georgetown never found its game in the offensive third as the Lady Monarchs outshot the Hoyas 22-1 en route to a 7-0 victory. Old Dominion got on the scoreboard 13 minutes into the game when junior forward Rosario Villagra slammed the ball past Nolen into the net. Villagra would go on to score two more goals.

The one-sided game demonstrated Old Dominion’s explosive offense and tightly wound defense. The only offense the Lady Monarchs allowed the Hoyas was just one second-half penalty corner. Sophomore midfielder Emily Harting also added two goals for Old Dominion.

“Old Dominion is a very talented team,” Hubbard said. “We have to have a perfect day against them and we didn’t. We were outskilled and outplayed. I do wish we could have generated more offense and given ourselves more of an opportunity, but their team was very strong.”

Going into halftime down by four goals, the Hoyas could not wipe off the frustration of the past 35 minutes. Because of the constant press from Old Dominion’s powerful offensive line, Georgetown had little time between deflecting shots and defending penalty corners to think about its offensive side of the game.

“We have a very competitive schedule coming up and we need to generate attack. If we can get that going, we can get our momentum going. Getting corners will really help us get shots as well.”

The Hoyas take on Rutgers (6-5, 0-2 Big East) Saturday on the road in Piscataway, NJ.

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