The Georgetown women’s soccer team (11-4-6 6-1-2 Big East) will take on No. 14 Virginia Tech (15-5-0, 5-5-0 ACC) on Friday in University Park, Pa., in the second round of the NCAA women’s soccer championship.

The Hoyas reached their third- consecutive NCAA second round with a 4-3 penalty kick victory over Big 12 champions, No. 8 West Virginia (16-2-4, 7-0-1 Big 12), on Saturday in Morgantown, W. Va., after 110 minutes of a 0-0 stalemate. Meanwhile, Virginia Tech used a barrage of four first-half goals to beat Dayton 4-0 and advance to take on Georgetown.

The Hokies had a great start to their campaign, winning 14 in a row and earning rankings as high as No. 2 before five late losses in a tough ACC conference schedule.

Head Coach Dave Nolan believes this game will be different from the Hoyas’ 6-1 away loss to Virginia Tech on Sept. 5, largely due to the Hokies’ loss of home-field advantage.

“I just don’t think they can have that same type of day where everything can go their way,” Nolan said. “And I mean everything. We’ve had games like that where it’s gone for us; I think our game against Marquette this year was a little like that. The 4-0 scoreline flattered us in that game.”

The Georgetown defense, tied with No. 13 DePaul (16-1-4, 7-0-2 Big East) for stingiest in the Big East, has improved greatly since September, allowing just five goals in their last nine matches.

Senior goalkeeper Emma Newins, who was named to the Big East Second Team, agrees that this game will be different given the Hoyas’recent strong run of form.

“We played Virginia Tech early in the season with little experience on defense,” Newins said. “I think they played well, but we didn’t have the best luck, and it seemed like every shot they took went in. The game on Friday will be very different, especially if we play like we did against West Virginia.”

In the September match, the Hoyas were demoralized early after senior attacking midfielder Daphne Corboz had one goal-scoring opportunity called back for offside and seemed to be fouled on another when she was nearly one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

“We didn’t play that bad when we played Virginia Tech the last time. We really didn’t,” Nolan said. “What happened was, they scored a wonder-strike early in the game, a shot that wouldn’t go in again if the kid hit it a hundred times. And the game turned on crucial moments…It was 2-0 at halftime. We got back to 2-1, and as soon we scored for 2-1 they came down the field and made it 3-1, and that was game-over.”

When Virginia Tech scored their third goal, Nolan made the decision to rest some of his starters for another game later that weekend; unfortunately, not only did the Hokies rack up three more goals, but the Hoyas fell 2-0 again two days later to unranked Wake Forest.

As in the West Virginia game, the Georgetown defense will face an intimidating attack from Virginia Tech.

“[The Hokies] have a very talented kid up front, [sophomore forward] Murielle Tiernan, who has scored a lot of goals for them this year and who is the real deal,” Nolan said. “She’s big and strong and powerful and fast, and she has a nose for goal.”

Freshman defenders Drew Topor and Elizabeth Wenger will once again look to fill the hole left by junior defender Marina Paul, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the Big East final against DePaul.

Nolan knows that his team needs to stop Virginia Tech’s offense before it reaches the Hoyas’ 18-yard box in order to create chances going forward, though a change of playing style is not necessary to win.

“I think we need to own the midfield in this game,” Nolan said. “I didn’t think, in the last game, we ever got to grips with their midfield. So I probably feel our two defensive centers [midfielders], [freshman] Taylor [Pak] and [sophomore] Emily Morgan, are two kids we need to get a good game out of.”

Reaching the NCAA third round was one of the team’s goals from the beginning of the season, as they have found themselves knocked out of the tournament in the second round the past two seasons. Now, the third round is just 90 minutes away.

Virginia Tech and Georgetown will kick off at 4:30 p.m. Friday on Penn State’s Jeffrey Field.