After 10 games, the Georgetown women’s lacrosse team’s season seemed doomed. They had only managed three wins in its out-of-conference schedule and failed to live up to its No. 10 preseason ranking.

Georgetown (11-9, 6-1 Big East), however, responded to rally off six straight wins to secure the second seed in the Big East tournament. During the streak, the Hoyas were not just winning — they were dominating games, outscoring opponents by more than eight goals per game.

These commanding victories were certainly encouraging for the once-nationally ranked squad. In the first round of the Big East tournament, the Hoyas’ dominance continued against third-seeded Connecticut (10-7, 5-2 Big East).

After a hard-fought first half, the Hoyas found themselves tied with the Huskies 5-5. In the second half, however, Georgetown overpowered Connecticut, notching 11 goals en route to its 16-8 victory.

The win propelled Georgetown to the Big East tournament championship against Louisville (16-4, 7-0 Big East). In a rematch of a regular-season matchup, the Hoyas were unable to overcome an early deficit and a late goal secured the Big East title for the Cardinals. The loss marked the second consecutive Big East tournament final loss for the Hoyas.

Despite the disappointing finish in the Big East tournament, Georgetown’s season was not over as it received an at-large bid to the national tournament. Because of their poor out-of-conference performance earlier, the Hoyas received a low seed and were matched against favorite Johns Hopkins (15-5, 3-3 Mid-Atlantic) in the first round. It would be the teams’ second meeting of the season.

Two months earlier, Johns Hopkins travelled to the Hilltop during the Hoyas’ six-game losing streak. After Georgetown battled back from an early deficit to force overtime, the Blue Jays scored less than two minutes into extra time, securing the win. But Georgetown would redeem itself in the NCAA tournament.

“We didn’t really prepare differently, we just wanted to make sure we minimized our mistakes,” Head Coach Ricky Fried said. “They have a few key people but we wanted to make sure we focused on them. But really we wanted to focus on how we were playing. It was a close game. This time it happened to tip in our favor.”

Unlike the first matchup, the Hoyas got off to a quick start as senior attack Reilly Woodman scored two minutes into the game. The two teams exchanged goals for a majority of the first half. After goals by senior attack Jody Cumberpatch and junior attack Caroline Tarzian in the final minutes, the Hoyas held a 6-4 lead at halftime.

The Blue Jays, however, responded quickly in the second half, scoring a goal just 10 seconds into the period. After a Cumberpatch goal gave Georgetown the two-goal lead, John’s Hopkins scored two consecutive goals to knot the game at seven apiece.

In the final 13 minutes of the second half, Georgetown and Johns Hopkins each exchanged a goal and regulation ended with the score tied at eight.

In overtime, senior co-captain and midfielder Kelyn Freedman secured the opening draw. The Hoyas proceeded to hold on to the ball until Freedman barreled her way through the Blue Jays defense and scored an unassisted goal, giving them the 9-8 advantage. Georgetown managed to hold off the Johns Hopkins offense in the final three minutes and, in doing so, secured its first NCAA tournament win for the Hoyas since 2006.

With the win, the Hoyas advanced to face North Carolina (15-4, 5-2 ACC), the reigning national champions. In the regular-season matchup, the Tar Heels overpowered the Hoyas and cruised to an easy 18-11 win.

At the onset of the rematch, Georgetown seemed doomed to suffer a similar loss — the Tar Heels, in front of their home crowd, rushed out to an early 4-1 lead. But Georgetown would not be denied. In the final eight minutes of the first half, led by Woodman, the Hoyas went on a 3-1 run to cut the Carolina lead to 5-4 at the half.

“Draw control and possession were two major emphases during the course of the game,” Friedsaid. “We got a lot of draw controls [but] there were two points in the game where we had draw controls but lost them and [North Carolina] took advantage of them.”
Georgetown’s momentum continued in the second half. Senior midfielder Hannah Franklin scored less than a minute in to tie the game at five. Fifteen minutes later, Franklin would strike again, but this time it gave Georgetown the 7-6 advantage — its first lead of the game.
In the final minutes of the game, however, Georgetown turnovers and fouls enabled North Carolina to go on a 3-0 run and take the 10-7 lead. Georgetown mounted a comeback, managing to score a goal to make it 10-8, but the deficit proved to be too much to surpass.
“We knew they were going to go on a run and it was just an issue of trying to minimize it, and we didn’t do a very good job, and they executed better than we did,” Fried said.

The 10-8 loss marked the end of a rollercoaster season for the Hoyas. After a disappointing beginning, Georgetown dominated in the Big East, cruising to a 6-1 record. Although they ended the season without any titles, it was a success according to Fried.

“[Our season] was inconsistent but we finished really strong,” said Fried. “We are really happy for our seniors to go back to the NCAAs and win the first round game. While it is disappointing to lose the last game of the season, I am really proud of the effort and how they responded.”