Four unanswered goals during the second half of the Big East women’s soccer semifinal game sent West Virginia to the championship and put a dagger through the heart of Georgetown’s tournament hopes. The Hoyas (15-6, 8-3 Big East) suffered a 5-1 loss to West Virginia (16-4, 10-1 Big East) last Friday and were subsequently left out of the NCAA tournament field Monday.

Having advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament for the first time since 2007, the Hoyas were hoping for a school-record 16th victory of the season. The Blue and Gray commanded play into halftime of the rematch against the Mountaineers, but couldn’t flurry of offense from the hosts after the break.

“I think the [final score] really upset the kids because I think they know they played really well,” Head Coach Dave Nolan said. “Even at 5-1 we were still attacking, creating chances, hitting crossbars, playing really good soccer. But West Virginia is a pretty good team.”

Despite the margin of defeat, Georgetown outshot West Virginia 11-10 and held a 9-4 advantage in corner kicks. The undersized and more technical Hoyas were uncharacteristically whistled for nine fouls compared to two for the top-seeded hosts, oft-considered one of the most aggressive teams in the conference.

The Mountaineers, who scored in the first minute of the teams’ September meeting, struck early once again when senior forward Blake Miller flicked a perfect header into the near post off of a corner kick in the fourth minute. The Hoyas responded well, however, playing aggressively for the remainder of the half.

The Blue and Gray were rewarded for their good work in the 28th minute when senior midfielder KellyD’Ambrisi ­— one of three Georgetown players to receive Big East first team honors — shook off a slew of challenges outside the box, retaining possession and emerging from the midst of three West Virginia players to slide the ball to senior forward Sam Baker in the penalty box. The neat through-ball split a pair of defenders, and Baker made no mistake with her low, left-footed blast, tying the score at 1 apiece.

Controlling play and generating opportunities, the Hoyas made a strong appeal for a penalty kick in the waning minutes of the half. Sophomore forward Kaitlin Brenn was poised to shoot from inside the box when a Mountaineer defender appeared to take her down from behind. The referee deemed the challenge clean and the teams entered the half deadlocked.

“The first half was probably the best we’d played all year … a few minutes after [West Virginia’s goal] we started to get into the game, and we took over the game and actually dominated the first half,” Nolan said. “I still felt at halftime that we were so in control of the game, West Virginia had absolutely no answer for what we were doing.”

In the 49th minute, however, the Mountaineers took the lead for good when senior defender Meghan Lewis forced a turnover near the corner flag and rifled a high shot over the goalkeeper into the back of the net from the top right corner of the penalty box. The Hoyas’ defense was sliced open again in the 57th minute when freshman forward Kate Schwindel gathered a long ball and found a wide-open sophomore forward Frances Silva streaking through a gaping hole in the defensive third. Silva converted the breakaway, sidestepping the Blue and Gray goalkeeper and finishing coolly to extend West Virginia’s lead.

As Georgetown began to chase the game, pressing for a lifeline back into the match, an intercepted pass allowed Schwindel to fire a low shot from the upper-left corner of the box inside the near post for the 4-1 lead in the 61st minute. In the 74th minute, senior midfielder Chelsey Corroto gathered a through-ball in the right side of the box, slotting into the netting from outside the corner of the 6-yard box to complete the scoring.

“I just don’t think we defended well. It wasn’t one specific thing, it was one different thing on each goal, and I know the kids are disappointed by it because we had played so well in the first half,” Nolan said. “To give them credit, in the second half they came out with a little bit of energy and unfortunately for us we gave up a bad goal in the first minutes of the half.”

While the Mountaineers proceeded to handle Louisville easily 2-0 in the Big East final on Sunday, claiming the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA tournament, the Hoyas were left to wait for Monday’s decision from the at-large selection committee.

After recording a school-record 14 regular season wins, a second place finish in the Big East National division, a semifinal appearance in the conference tournament, and a Ratings Percentage Index of 40, the Blue and Gray seemed poised to receive a bid to this year’s tournament, yet were not named to the 64-team field.

Following last year’s Elite Eight finish, the season comes to an unanticipated early end for a talented team featuring six seniors and five recipients of Big East honors, including redshirt senior and Big East midfielder of the year Ingrid Wells. D’Ambrisi and senior forward Camille Trujillo joined Wells on the conference first team, while Baker and freshman midfielder Daphne Corboz received third team honors. Wells led the team with 30 points on nine goals and 12 assists, while Trujillo scored a team-best 12 goals in the final season of her record-setting career.