Fresh off of a West Coast trip to begin the season, the No. 20 Georgetown women’s soccer team will play in its home opener today at 3 p.m. against N.C. State on Shaw Field.

The Blue and Gray (1-0-1) opened their season with the Torero Classic, first beating San Diego 3-1 and then drawing against Long Beach State 0-0 after two extra periods were not enough to settle the match.

Star senior midfielder Daphne Corboz sees reason for optimism after the road trip, especially after holding on late against Long Beach State.

“I think it was a trip we really enjoyed. We obviously would have loved two wins but coming out I feel that we’re fortunate with a win and a tie,” Corboz said.

The opener against the University of San Diego had a slow first half but turned into a goal-scoring frenzy early in the second period, with two Hoya goals from senior forward Vanessa Skrumbis and one San Diego goal in a three-minute span.

Corboz then finished a breakaway one-on-one opportunity with the keeper to seal the win.

The draw against Long Beach State was a different sort of affair.

“Long Beach was a good team, very well coached,” 11th-year Head Coach Dave Nolan said. “They did a good job on Daphne, double- and triple-teaming her. I think ultimately the travel of the weekend caught up to us. And we were actually really comfortable up until the last 15 minutes of regulation, when we felt our legs went away from us a little bit. And then in overtime I definitely think Long Beach were the better team.”

Despite managing just a draw, putting up a clean sheet bodes well for the Hoyas, as the departure of the Class of 2014 required the replacement of the team’s entire starting back four defenders, and a defensive midfielder as well. To compensate for these losses, the Hoyas have had to shuffle players out of their natural positions.

“We did some work on it in the spring and we pulled some players from different positions to try to mold them into defenders,” Nolan said. “[Senior] Jessie Clinton was a forward who we made into an outside back. [Junior] Sarah Adams was a midfielder who we made into an outside back. [Junior] Marina Paul was a midfielder who we made into a center back. And we’ve got [junior] Neela Mohan who’s a returning player but who has had a little bit of bad fortune with injuries, and right now she’s in as the fourth defender.”

All of these summer changes make the 120 minutes of scoreless defense even more impressive.

Another good sign lies in the link-up play between Skrumbis and Corboz, who together picked apart San Diego time and again with well-timed, incisive runs.

Freshman defender Drew Topor similarly impressed with her passing ability.

The home opener against North Carolina State is part of a tough early-season run for the Hoyas, though Big East powerhouse programs await them in the conference part of the season.

Despite their unranked designation, Nolan does not underestimate the Wolfpack.

“It’s a very good coach [Tim Santoro] who took over the team last year, too late really to make major changes to how they were doing things,” Nolan said. “He’s now had a good year, 15 months, to start to do things the way he wants them done, and he’s now managed to bring in a couple kids of the type that he wants. … It’s one of those games that probably could go either way.”

Georgetown’s last meeting against the Wolfpack ended in a 2-0 Hoya victory in September 2013.

Corboz and the rest of the new-look Hoyas are full of confidence after their California trip, and are looking toward a successful campaign.

“I think that we have a good group,” Corboz said. “Everybody wants to step up, and everybody needs to step up for us to have a good season. I think as a team we really do want to continue the tradition that Georgetown set, everybody before us, that we are a top-20 team now and that’s a standard we want to keep set.”