As Head Coach Dave Nolan sat alongside the field at the Texas Shootout youth soccer showcase in Houston, he was surprised to find that a crafty midfielder by the name of Camille Trujillo was not attracting more attention. As Nolan took greater and greater notice of the New Mexico native’s potential, he began to wonder.

“There was just something about her. … You could tell she had what I call soccer instincts,” Nolan said. “I was watching with three or four coaches, and nobody else picked up on it, so I started to think: Am I seeing something that everybody else is missing, or am I seeing something that just isn’t there?”

Confident in his own judgment, Nolan pursued the recruit, and Trujillo has more than rewarded her coach’s faith. Now a senior forward for the Hoyas, Trujillo holds both the single-season and career goal-scoring records for Georgetown, has started every game for the Blue and Gray since her freshman year and has helped lead the squad to a program-best 14 wins in this year’s regular season.

As Georgetown (14-5, 8-3 Big East) heads into Sunday’s Big East quarterfinal date with Syracuse (7-7-3, 6-5 Big East), Trujillo and five other seniors start their final postseason campaign as Hoyas. The player Nolan called the Blue and Gray’s “out-and-out goal-scorer” tops the team score-sheets once again with 11 goals, 10 of which have come in the past 11 games.

“She’s got some great attributes. First and foremost is her pace. Second is her work rate. There are fast players that are lazy, [but] Camille works every bit as hard when we don’t have the ball as when we have it,” Nolan said. “Ultimately, it’s now her time.”

Despite having a quieter demeanor than many of her senior counterparts, Trujillo has a marked impact on her teammates, leading by the example she sets when she takes the pitch.

“When you see how hard she’s willing to work on the field, when you see the physical sacrifices she’s willing to make on the field, players can’t help but be impressed,” Nolan said. “To put one word on it would be bravery: She’s so brave. Players see that and they think, ‘I need to be able to do that too.'”

Trujillo’s record-breaking career on the Hilltop has not been without its rough patches, however. An ACL injury sustained just prior to arriving on the Hilltop for her freshman year meant that her first season was played, by her standards, rather gingerly. After being among the team leaders with seven goals in her sophomore year, Trujillo etched her name in the Georgetown record books during a scintillating 13-goal junior year.

Through the ups and downs, Trujillo has maintained a positive, unassuming attitude. Her on-the-field prowess and low-key off-the-field demeanor have given her an enviable reputation: Teammates love her, but opposing defenders hate to see her lining up at the center circle.

“I’ve gained a lot of confidence since freshman year … I kept giving all that I had and was able to perform,” Trujillo said. “It’s exciting and I just hope to continue doing well.”

Alongside the likes of team points leader and redshirt senior midfielder Ingrid Wells, defender Gabby Miller, midfielder Kelly D’Ambrisi, goalie Liz Hannah and forward Sam Baker, Trujillo feels that this year’s set of graduates has also grown stronger as a unit heading into the Big East tournament.

“I think that we work very well together. We’ve been together for four years now and we understand each others’ abilities and talents.” Trujillo said. “We have leadership at every position … so we definitely have a stronger connection that has developed throughout the four years.”

Despite its magical NCAA tournament run to the Elite Eight in 2010, Georgetown has fallen heartbreakingly short in its past two Big East quarterfinals. After falling 1-0 to St. John’s in the final seconds of double overtime in 2009, last year’s heavily-favored Hoyas were upset 1-0 at home by South Florida, again in double overtime. With archrival Syracuse visiting North Kehoe after Trujillo notched two goals and an assist against it in a comfortable 3-1 road win in September, the hosts will be intent on avoiding a similar slip-up.

“We’re definitely motivated because we set a goal at the beginning that we want to get to the [semifinals] of the Big East tournament, and we’ve never been there, at least my class hasn’t,” Trujillo said. “It’s definitely important: We want to show the conference that we’re a high caliber team.”

“This group is determined to get to the final four of the Big East, probably even more so than theNCAAs,” Nolan added. “I think this group is focused on that, I haven’t heard anyone talk about theNCAAs: I’ve heard them all talk about the Big East. … Right now we’re three wins away from a Big East ring.”

To reach their goal, however, the Hoyas will need to get past a tough, physical Orange squad that will doubtless benefit from the two teams’ September clash. As a result, the hosts expect a pressing, aggressive approach from their New York rivals, who will attempt to close down space and keep themselves from being exposed by runs through the back line.

“We’ll catch them with a little bit different mentality player-wise; they’ll be more up for this game,” Nolan said. “They know their best chance is stop us doing what we do, and that involves them doing a lot of physical work.”

“It’s definitely harder to beat a team twice in one season so they’re definitely going to come out for us,” Trujillo said. “We just have to play our game, come out strong and show them that we’re not going to let them win on our homefield.”

The Blue and Gray’s quest for the Big East tournament title begins on Sunday. Kickoff against Syracuse is set for 1 p.mon North Kehoe Field.