The No. 10 Georgetown’s women’s soccer team (9-0-2, 1-0-1 Big East) will face off against the Providence Friars (4-5-3, 1-2-0 Big East) on Sunday, Oct. 6 in Rhode Isalnd. Though Providence will have the home-field advantage, Georgetown is a significant offensive threat, as evidenced by the 41 goals the team has scored in 12 games so far this season.
Although Georgetown pulled off a 1-0 win against Providence last season and has had phenomenal offensive production thus far, Head Coach Dave Nolan knows that this is a new season with a new set of challenges.
“We know it’s going to be a difficult game. The field up there right now is not in great shape, and that’s going to be a factor as well,” Nolan said.
Providence’s offensive attack is another aspect of the team that the Hoyas are not taking lightly.
“They’ve got some very good attacking players: Catherine Zimmerman; they have a freshman named Rachel Ugolik who’s a good attacking player; and Kathryn Hiller. We’ll be focusing on trying to be the best that we can be and certainly trying to keep an eye on their special players,” Nolan said.
The Hoyas will also have to deal with the adversity of playing on the road. Though upperclassmen on the Blue and Gray are used to the pressures of playing far from the Hilltop, it’s more difficult for the freshmen.
“For the younger kids, it’s all new,” Nolan said.
Still, the Hoyas are a cohesive unit that succeeds both at home and on the road. While last year there were primarily three goal-scorers for the Hoyas in senior forwards Colleen Dinn and Kaitlin Brenn and junior midfielder Daphne Corboz, this year more players are helping out on the Hoya’s offense.
“This year things seem to be far more spread out. It definitely seems to be more of a case where there are more people chipping in,” Nolan said.
This game is even more important because of its Big East implications.
“Once you get to conference regulation play, you get to conference tournament play, and then obviously with the hope that you’ll get an NCAA selection bid,” Nolan said.
Though the Hoyas have postseason aspirations, Coach Nolan emphasized the importance of staying in the present.
“It’s always been game-by-game here. We never look ahead. Also, we’re a performance-driven team and not a result-driven team. The kids understand that if we take care of our performances, then our results will take care of themselves.”
The Hoyas hope that this mentality will propel them to victory in Sunday’s game. As the Hoyas win more and more games, not only does their undefeated streak grow, but the pressure mounts as well.
“Right now, we have a bull’s-eye on our back because we’re ranked so highly,” Nolan said. “We’re ranked 10 in one poll and 9 in another one. Especially now with Notre Dame not being in the conference, it’s left to ourselves and Marquette to be the teams everybody will get up for.”
After Georgetown’s game in Providence, they will head to Marquette for another Big East matchup, then return home for two more conference meetings with St. John’s and Creighton.
