Charles Nailen/The Hoya Senior midfielder Michi Ellers fights for a groundball in the Hoyas’ 13-6 win on Sunday.

Just two days after the Hoyas’ five-game winning streak ended at the paws of the Princeton Tigers, the Georgetown women’s lacrosse team took the field again. On Sunday the women faced Big East foe Rutgers, and despite winning the game 13-6, it was obvious that the specter of the Princeton loss still hung over the Hoyas.

“Today was a win but I certainly wasn’t very happy with our overall performance,” Head Coach Kim Simons said. “Our team may be a little bit tired but if we want to be one of the best teams in the country we need to be able to work through that and be able to show up and perform at a very high level regardless of the circumstances.”

The Hoyas took an early one-goal lead when senior midfielder Anouk Peters found the back of the net less than five minutes into the contest. The next 10 minutes, however, belonged strictly to Rutgers. With seven minutes expired from the clock, Rutgers freshman midfielder Katie Batiuk knotted the score at one. Four minutes later classmate Jamie Farewell tallied one to take a 2-1 lead and force Georgetown to call a timeout. A short while later, however, the Scarlet Knights were at it again as junior attack Lindsay Rising dumped in a wide-angle shot and Batiuk followed up with a goal off a free-position shot.

Halfway through the first period, the Hoyas found themselves trailing a 3-3 Rutgers team by three goals. By contrast, the Hoyas had led No. 1 Princeton 2-0 at the same point just two days earlier. Finally, senior midfielder Gloria Lozano took charge for Georgetown. With her back to the net, Lozano flicked a shot over her right shoulder that was blocked by Rutgers goalie Lyndsey Feldman. Lozano grabbed the rebound and found the back of the net.

Lozano’s goal came at the 12-minute mark, after which the Hoya offense seemed to stall for nearly the remainder of the half. Georgetown scored two goals in the closing minute of the period, the last coming with just three seconds remaining, tying the score 4-4 going into the break.

During the break, Georgetown Associate Head Coach Ricky Fried worked with junior goaltender Sarah Robinson, who had allowed four goals in the first half. “She kept coming out of the crease and being out of position,” Fried said after the game. “They had a couple of floating shots that just went in because she was in poor position. I told her to relax and play her game and try to see the ball a little bit better.”

The second half marked a vast improvement for the Hoya offense. Having scored three consecutive goals to close out the first half, the Hoyas opened the second with a quick four more. Peters tallied her second, while junior attack Catherine Elbe and junior midfielder Lauryn Bernier added one apiece. Lozano added her second to put the Hoyas up 8-4 just five minutes into the second half.

The Scarlet Knights stopped the run with a goal from Rising, but three Hoyas answered right back. Freshman attack Coco Stanwick took a pass from junior attack Sarah Oliphant for her second goal of the game, while senior midfielder Michi Ellers followed just 32 seconds later. Lozano then added her third goal for the hat-trick and an 11-5 Georgetown lead.

Rutgers again tried to silence the Hoya barrage with a goal, but Georgetown junior midfielder Allison Chambers and Bernier put in what would be the last two goals of the game, making the Georgetown lead 13-6 with still 10 minutes of clock.

A nine-goal second half was a marked improvement over Georgetown’s four-goal opening effort. Simons called the difference “a mentality change.” She added, “We were slow out of the gates and Rutgers came hard at us. We were just a little complacent, thinking that we are better than we are. It’s Big East, and Rutgers has always given us a tough game and today was no different.”

After only one day off between facing Princeton and Rutgers, the Hoyas now have a week of rest, recuperation and preparation before taking on North Carolina next Sunday at 1 p.m. on North Kehoe field. In a series dating back to 1996, Georgetown leads UNC 6-4. The Hoyas beat the Tarheels 9-6 last season in Chapel Hill, but in 2002 the game marked the only regular-season loss for Georgetown.

Coach Simons said she believes the time off between games will benefit her team, and that they should be ready to take on UNC next week. “Today was a challenge to be able to turn around and get back on the field and be able to play our game. We certainly do better when we have a bit of time to prepare. That was part of the problem in the first half. This week we need to get a little bit of rest, we need to get healthy and we need to make sure we’re fresh and well-prepared.”