After 64 minutes of scoreless play between the No. 4 Georgetown women’s soccer team and Butler on Sunday at Shaw Field, sophomore defender Kelly Ann Livingstone slotted a ball into the back of the net to give the Hoyas a 1-0 lead.
Junior midfielder Carson Nizialek found Livingstone’s feet off a free kick from junior forward Paula Germino-Watnick. Nizialek and Germino-Watnick earned assists on the goal.
Georgetown (15-0-2, 8-0 Big East) went on to defeat Butler (11-5-1, 5-2-1 Big East) by a score of 2-0 to clinch its second straight Big East regular season title. Germino-Watnick scored the Hoyas’ second goal of the game in the 82nd minute, finishing off a pass from senior forward Amanda Carolan in the six-yard box.
Senior forward Caitlin Farrell also recorded an assist on the play as Butler’s sophomore goalkeeper Leonie Doege deflected her shot, allowing Carolan to slip the ball to Germino-Watnick.
Head Coach Dave Nolan emphasized the importance of the title and the motivation that it will provide the Hoyas going forward.
“Winning consecutive Big East Regular Season Championships is a goal that the team set for themselves and we now look towards the conference tournament with great confidence,” Nolan said in an interview with The Hoya. “We are excited by the challenges ahead in the Big East and NCAA also, hopefully.”
The Hoyas and the Bulldogs remained even for much of the match, with Butler recording eight shots to Georgetown’s nine and six corner kicks to Georgetown’s two.
On the whole, Georgetown tallied 13 fouls and Butler recorded 18. Senior goalkeeper Arielle Schechtman saved three shots on the day and notched her 11th shutout of the season.
Nolan praised the Hoyas’ response to the challenges they faced throughout the game.
“I could not have been more impressed with the girls today. The weather and wind in particular made this a tricky encounter and in the first half we had to manage that against a very good Butler team,” Nolan said. “Butler posed us some problems; they are an excellent team and very well coached. However, in the second half, we really took ownership of the game and I felt we were well worth the win.”
Despite being held to scoreless in the game, the Bulldog offense generated several scoring opportunities against a solid Hoya defense.
In the 75th minute, Butler found the back of the net, but had the goal called offside and disallowed. Ten minutes later, Butler’s junior forward Macy Miller powered a ball toward the net that deflected off of the crossbar.
Junior defender Meaghan Nally was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Week for her performances against Butler and Marquette, while Schechtman was recognized on the Big East Weekly Honor Roll.
Undefeated in Big East play, Georgetown has secured the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Big East tournament.
Georgetown will next travel to Cincinnati to face Xavier in its last regular season game Oct. 25 before kicking off the Big East tournament the following week. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
