The No. 20 Georgetown women’s soccer team had one goal in mind when it travelled to Milwaukee for the Big East tournament: bring home the program’s first conference tournament title.

But the Hoyas’ first postseason tournament did not go as planned when a defensive-minded DePaul upset the Blue and Gray in the semifinals 1-0.

The Hoyas (15-2-2, 7-1-1 Big East) were denied their goal of winning a conference tournament championship, but on Monday, the team was given a second postseason life. The announcement that Georgetown would play La Salle in the first round of the NCAA Tournament signified a different first for the program: a home NCAA tournament game.

Georgetown qualified for its first NCAA Tournament in 2007, and the current group of seniors made it all the way to the Elite Eight as freshmen in 2010, but the Hoyas have never played a tournament game on Shaw Field. That will change on Saturday.

“I think [the team] is excited about that opportunity [to play at home],” Head Coach Dave Nolan said, according to the Georgetown athletics website. “I think they’re disappointed from Friday’s result, but I think there’s enough in the tank for what we have coming forward.”

A tough La Salle team that has navigated itself to the NCAA tournament in three straight seasons awaits in round one. The Explorers have lost their way in the first round the past two seasons.

Two years ago, the Explorers (15-4-3, 5-2-1 Atlantic 10) completed an undefeated regular season that was good enough to get them an at-large bid to the tournament after they were upset in the Atlantic 10 semifinals. They lost 5-1 to Maryland in that 2011 tournament. Last year, La Salle received an automatic bid as a result of winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament, before losing 4-1 to Virginia.

The Explorers are hoping that the third time is the charm. They come into the match fresh off a second straight Atlantic 10 tournament title, winning the championship game on penalty kicks against Dayton. They are on a six-game winning streak and are led by junior forward Kelsey Haycook, who leads the team with 15 goals and whose 11 assists make her second on the team.

“They’re a very good team,” Nolan said. “They got in with a good record and are tournament champions. I know they have two very exceptional forwards, and they are very well coached. They’re a motivated group, and it will be a very difficult game for us.”

Despite the relative proximity between Georgetown and La Salle’s Philadelphia campus, it will be the first time that members of either team have played each other. However, the two teams have played many mutual opponents this season, and the results of those games would seemingly give the Hoyas an edge.

Both schools beat Villanova, the Hoyas by a score of 3-1 and the Explorers by a tally of 1-0. La Salle lost to George Washington in the regular season 1-0 before defeating them in the quarterfinals of the A-10 Tournament 2-0; Georgetown beat the Colonials 3-2 in one of its first games of the season. Finally, the Hoyas beat Virginia Commonwealth 4-0 and UConn 2-1, while La Salle tied VCU and dropped a 1-0 defeat to the Huskies earlier in the year.

Increasing the apparent Georgetown advantage is the fact that the Hoyas are undefeated in their last 20 home matches. In fact, it has been over two years since the Blue and Gray lost at home. They dropped a 2-1 loss in overtime to Louisville in October 2011, but since then, the home undefeated streak is the longest in school history.

The key for victory on Saturday for Georgetown will be the ability to finish plays, something the Hoyas struggled mightily with in their semifinal loss during the Big East Tournament. Georgetown outshot DePaul 26 to 2 in that game, but was ultimately unable to score.

Three attacking players — junior midfielder Daphne Corboz, senior midfielder Kailey Blain and senior forward Kaitlin Brenn — were named either first- or second-team all-Big East last week. Those players and others will all have to step up on Saturday if the Hoyas hope to get into the second round, where a matchup against the winner of No. 1 Virginia and St. Francis would await.

Kickoff on Saturday is slated for 1 p.m. at Shaw Field.