After starting off its 2008-2009 season undefeated until last weekend’s tough loss to Notre Dame, Georgetown suffered two heartbreaking losses this weekend, bringing its season record to 10-3-2. The Hoyas fell to West Virginia on Friday afternoon 2-1 and to Pittsburgh 2-1 on Sunday, both in double overtime.

The faceoff between the visiting Hoyas and the Mountaineers proved to be a well-matched contest, as neither team scored until well into the second half. Georgetown had a chance early in the game when junior defender Norah Swanson broke free, but her attempt on the Mountaineer goal missed over the crossbar. After that early shot, the Georgetown defense had to contend with seven attempts on their own goal, with sophomore goalkeeper Jackie DesJardin notching one save to keep the game tied at 0-0 going into halftime.

The Mountaineers started off the second half with two shots on goal within the first five minutes of play. DesJardin managed to reject both attempts, but the Hoya defense’s work was far from done, as the West Virginia offense continued to pressure the Georgetown back line for the rest of the contest. The Mountaineers fired off 10 more attempts on the Georgetown goal during the rest of the second half, and DesJardin managed to pull off five more defensive saves to keep the Mountaineers off the scoreboard.

The Hoyas came back with a few attacks of their own early on in the second half. Senior midfielder Stephanie Zare and freshman midfielder Samantha Baker both had shots on the Mountaineers’ goal blocked, but the duo was finally able to capitalize in the 71st minute, when Zare dished off to Baker for the first goal of the game and Baker’s seventh of the season. Despite strong defensive efforts from DesJardin and the rest of the back line, West Virginia tied up the game 15 minutes later when senior midfielder Greer Barnes scored for the Mountaineers, sending the game into overtime.

In the first overtime, Baker had the best offensive chance for the Hoyas with an attempt on the Mountaineer goal that was blocked. Neither team could find the back of the net, however, and the contest went into a second overtime. West Virginia’s freshman forward Blake Miller ended the game with a goal for the Mountaineers.

“We played very well against a very good West Virginia team,” Head Coach Dave Nolan said. “They are the defending Big East Champions, and we went there and played really well. They had us under pressure for most of the game, and just when we thought we were gone with it, they got a goal and got it to overtime, it could have gone either way. . It just didn’t work out for us in that game.”

After the heartbreaker at West Virginia, the Hoyas came out on the losing end of yet another double-overtime contest at Pitt. The Panthers pulled ahead midway through the first half when senior midfielder Jennifer Kritch took control of a ball headed by a Georgetown defender and fired it past DesJardin to get Pitt on the scoreboard. Georgetown had two corner kick chances during the first half but was unable to capitalize.

Less than 15 minutes into the second half, senior Nicole Smith tied up the game for the Hoyas and scored her first goal of the season. Baker started off the possession with a long throw-in to Zare, who passed off to Smith for the assist. After that goal evened out the score, the Hoyas struggled to break through the Pitt defense again. Baker had one attempt on the goal later on in the half, but the Panthers’ offense proved ruthless; during the final 20 minutes of play, Pitt drilled 10 attempts on goal at the Georgetown defense. DesJardin and the rest of the defense managed to stave off the Panthers’ attempts until the end of regulation, but Pitt’s Ashley Habbel broke it down during the second overtime to snatch a win for the Panthers.

“The Pittsburgh game was a little harder to take, because we didn’t play well,” Nolan said. “What probably happened is that all these games are starting to catch up with us, and the fatigue has started to set in. . It was probably our flattest performance of the season.”

The Hoyas face off against St. John’s on Kehoe Field at 3 p.m. today in a rescheduled game. The squad then has two more Big East contests this season, against Louisville and Cincinnati this weekend.

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