Attackers senior Brittany Baschuk and sophomore Bunny O’Reilly posted, and senior Schuyler Sutton matched, a career-high four goals each. Under constant defensive pressure, co-captain senior attacker and leading goal-scorer Coco Stanwick stepped outside her normal role to post a career-best five assists.

The Blue Jays found the net first, scoring an early goal less than two minutes into the game. In the first eight minutes, the two teams matched goals to tie at three. But Georgetown had difficulty finding its rhythm. The Hoyas did not win a draw until 7:40 had elapsed. They also did not make sharp passes and allowed cutters to beat the defense top-side, resulting in two early assisted goals for Hopkins players who received feeds in front of the net.

“We came out a little slow, but it didn’t last too long,” Head Coach Ricky Fried said. “Once we started getting some draw controls, it changed the tempo of the game. We were able to get possession and maintain some good possessions and actually initiate some fast breaks, which we haven’t done for a while.”

That gave the Hoyas the confidence they needed to crack the aggressive Blue Jay defense, which focused on body positioning and defending the eight. Assisted by Stanwick, O’Reilly sunk a shot near the left post to begin a five-goal scoring drive that gave the Blue and Gray a lead they would not relinquish.

“I’d say they were more dirty than tough,” Sutton said. “We play a tougher defense every single day in practice against our own team. So, I don’t think it was so much beating them one-on-one, but just kind of adjusting to how they play defense. They were dirty inside the eight, but other than that I think we’re tougher – our whole team – all around.”

With 4:32 left in the first half, junior midfielder Kadie Stamper broke a Hopkins scoring drought that lasted more than 18 minutes with a free-position shot. Baschuk, assisted by Stanwick, tallied her third to answer for Georgetown, and the Hoyas headed off the field leading the Blue Jays 8-4 at the half.

A hungry Hopkins squad came out fired up and scored four goals to Georgetown’s one within the first seven minutes to set the score to 9-8. The Blue Jays were energized by their one-point margin, but the Hoyas stepped up on both defense and attack.

“I don’t think they were any stronger than us in any aspect,” co-captain senior goalie Maggie Koch said. “At the beginning of the game, they were getting the cuts that they wanted, but once we started shutting those off, we played our game plan. We knew what they wanted – we kept them out of it.”

Hopkins never came close to reclaiming the lead after junior attacker Zan Morley scored the first of six unanswered Georgetown goals.

Fried saw the offensive effort spring off from increased aggressiveness on draw controls. “I think [sophomore midfielder] Jordan Trautman probably ended up having four in a row at one point,” he said. “She really sparked us off the loose balls, and it really helped all of our confidence across the board.”

The Blue Jays tallied five more scores by the end of the game, but it was too little, too late.

“This was a great challenge for us,” Sutton said. “Every game we play is a big team. Every team we play is a top 12 team. There’s not a game on our schedule that’s not a great game. There’s no cupcakes.”

Georgetown faces the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils on Sunday at 1 p.m.