The Hoyas survived by the slimmest of margins last season, and most of the time, it worked: Despite playing seven one-goal games, five of which were decided in multiple overtime periods, Georgetown finished the regular season 14-4 and entered the NCAA tournament seeded third.

But when the second round of the tournament rolled around, the Hoyas ran out of magic against a hungry Notre Dame team that had never before defeated a Georgetown squad.

The Hoyas’ opened their season with a romp over the Mount. In the first half of its opening game against Mount St. ary’s, Georgetown jumped out to an 8-2 first-half lead and went on to win 15-2.

After another lopsided victory over Oregon, the Hoyas faced then-No. 13 Syracuse in both teams’ Big East opener. Georgetown came out on top, 10-7, in what served as a loud statement for the rest of the conference.

Two weeks later, Georgetown faced perennial powerhouse Duke in one of the most highly-anticipated battles of the season. After the Blue Devils edged the Hoyas 6-2 in the first half, Georgetown mounted a comeback in the second half, but still found themselves on the losing end of a 10-8 final score.

“We competed for an entire half and had a couple of chances to tie, but came up a bit short,” Head Coach Ricky Fried said after the game.

Following the disappointing loss in Durham, Georgetown rattled off four consecutive victories and shipped off to Boston, the site of the 2006 final four, to face the No. 15 Boston University Terriers. There, they delivered a lackluster performance statistically, falling short on ground balls and clears and committing more turnovers than the Terriers. The Hoyas lost 9-8.

But 10 days later, Georgetown got its groove back, topping No. 4 Virginia 8-4 for its second victory over the Cavaliers in nine contests.

“That was by far the best we’ve played all season, so far,” junior goalkeeper Maggie Koch said after the win.

The Blue and Gray then went on to defeat Loyola 9-8 in an epic overtime battle to capture the Big East title. After a back-and-forth game that looked like it might end after a late Greyhound shot gave Loyola the lead, midfielder Stephanie Zodtner (MSB ’06) scored the game-tying goal for the Hoyas just as time expired. In the second overtime session, attacker Page Andrews (MSB ’06) took the game-winner to the net.

A storybook season seemed to be shaping up for the Hoyas, who earned a trip to their eighth consecutive NCAA quarterfinal round after rolling over the Monmouth Hawks in the first round, 18-2.

But against Notre Dame, the Hoyas faced the same struggles dragging against them in their game against the Irish in April, when Georgetown needed three overtimes to close out an 11-10 victory. Georgetown led 8-7 with 17:10 left on the clock, but Notre Dame sunk four consecutive shots in 3:31 to take an 11-8 lead. The Irish controlled possession for the remainder of the game to pull off their first-ever victory over the Hoyas, 12-9, and advanced to final four for the first time in school history.

Elite eight loss aside, Georgetown averaged almost 11 goals per game, while allowing only seven. Koch was named Division I goalie of the year and junior attacker Coco Stanwick was recognized as one of five finalists for the 2006 Tewaaraton Trophy, awarded each season to the nation’s top college player.

With last year’s stars back to lead the Hoyas on the field in 2007, the squad is hungrier than ever for that elusive NCAA crown.