The Georgetown women’s soccer team (8-2-3, 3-0-1 Big East) struck late to beat Providence (5-6-2, 1-3-0 Big East) at Shaw Field on Sunday, winning 1-0 on a goal by senior forward Audra Ayotte in the 89th minute.

The Hoyas threatened to score in the final 20 minutes of the second half, but despite many opportunities, they were unable to break through. However, in the final minute of regular time, senior midfielder Daphne Corboz began an attack that would decide the game in Georgetown’s favor. Corboz’s long header into the 18-yard box was redirected by junior defender Marina Paul directly into the path of Ayotte, who calmly placed her shot past the outstretched arms of Friars sophomore goalkeeper Kristyn Shea for the winning goal.

Head Coach Dave Nolan was impressed with how the players composed themselves in spite of their goalless frustration.

“I was real happy with how we managed out the game, and I just told them that,” Nolan said. “It would have been easy just to panic and start hitting hopeful balls, but we kept trying to be clever with our soccer, and we kept trying to build the ball into dangerous places so we could get dangerous crosses in.”

Ayotte, who played as a striker instead of an attacking midfielder Sunday, wasn’t exactly sure how the ball ended up in the net for her winning goal.

“I was just looking for scraps and rebounds in front of the goal and the next thing I know, the ball is in the back of the net, so it worked out,” Ayotte said. “I don’t know if it hit off me or it hit off the defender. I was just in there, and me and the girl were battling for the ball, and then it got there. I’ll have to watch it on film.”

A large chunk of the Blue and Gray’s offense came from sophomore forward Grace Damaska, who scored the first hat trick in Big East play since 2012. On Thursday, Damaska, who was named the Big East Player of the Week, made several runs down the left side before crossing the ball into the box, which created opportunities for the Hoyas.

“It’s more of a team effort, so I’m happy just to come off of the bench and offer new energy to the speed of play,” Damaska said about her role as a substitute.

“As long as we won, it doesn’t matter to me. My job is to get down the line and get crosses in the box so people can try to finish. And Audra finished, finally, and it was great.”

The Georgetown defense silenced the prolific Providence goal-scorer Catherine Zimmerman, a junior forward, who has five goals and five assists in the season.

However, Zimmerman did not have many opportunities. Like many Georgetown opponents this season, Providence played a defensive game that limited its own offensive opportunities.

“The hardest thing in the world to do is create and score,” Nolan said. “And it’s 10 times as hard when you’ve got a team that’s just going to put 10 or nine field players in a 40-yard space. We ran into this against Xavier, we ran into this against Duquesne, we ran into it to an extent against Butler. And each time we’ve managed to find a way to find a goal, and it’s usually been with a different person.”

The team has struggled in Sunday games following a match on Thursday or Friday, but inspired performances from Damaska, freshman defensive midfielder Taylor Pak and especially senior fullback Jessica Clinton gave the squad a boost.

“Jessie is Jessie. She’s tough, she’s fast, she’s fearless, sometimes brainless,” Nolan said. “But she’s a kid that had the confidence to try to make things happen. And I really like what she did today, because she was always trying to find a way to make a play. Sometimes you get kids that hope you win; Jessie was trying to make us win.”

Sophomore midfielder Emily Morgan was also impressive off the bench, putting in several important crunching tackles over the course of the game.
The strength and organization of the defensive midfield enabled the team to take the initiative in pressing forward over the last 20 minutes, as the offensive players knew that with every Friar defensive clearance, a Hoya would be there to send the ball right back into the box.

Georgetown’s next game is Sunday at 1 p.m. on Shaw Field against traditional Big East powerhouse Marquette (7-5-2, 3-0-1 Big East), who is unbeaten in its last six matches and is tied with Georgetown with seven points at the top of the Big East.