Coming home always seems to make things better. Following three straight road losses, Georgetown field hockey found what it was looking for on Sunday in a 2-1 defeat of Lafayette at Kehoe Field.

After a scoreless first half, Lafayette (2-12, 1-2) struck first as junior forward Laura Fabian scored off of a penalty corner opportunity. Trailing 1-0, the Georgetown (5-8, 0-4) offense came alive with the help of a familiar face, sophomore forward Katie Lachman.

Sixteen seconds after the Leopards took the lead, Lachman led a charge downfield that resulted in freshman forward Kristen Volpe’s second goal of the season. A minute and a half after helping tie the game, Lachman scored the game-winner unassisted.

“After they scored,” Lachman said, “we just got angry and we knew that this was our game. We really worked together with awesome chemistry and got the ball in the cage.”

Georgetown Head Coach Laurie Carroll was pleased with the two-minute offensive outburst that secured the victory, but she also saw room for improvement.

“Our shooting percentage is amazing,” Carroll said. “If we had the confidence to take those shots from the beginning of the game, who knows what could happen. The good thing is that when we’re down, we know that we can come back.”

Lachman’s impressive game may have been the result of Carroll’s decision to bring her off the bench Sunday – she has started nine of twelve contests this year.

“I came off the bench today,” she said, “and that really helped me come out fired up, bring some extra energy.”

The defense played a solid game as well, led by junior co-captain Deirdre McShea, junior Lauren Sheets and sophomore Katie Devaney. Following an inconsistent road trip that yielded three losses against Big East opponents, the defensive unit made the proper adjustments against Lafayette.

“The defense played strong today,” Carroll said. “There was a little bit of a lapse to start the second half, but overall they were great. Deirdre McShea had her best game of the season. She just played great, start to finish.”

Georgetown has been aided by a strong freshman class all season long. With five in the starting lineup Sunday, their major contributions have fueled each Hoya victory.

“Having a lot of freshmen on the team forces everybody to train a lot harder,” Volpe said. “Everyone is so supportive, and because we have such a large freshman class we know that the coaches are expecting a lot from us.”

Four games remain on the schedule, including two Big East opponents: No. 12 Louisville and No. 15 Villanova. Georgetown appears poised for the final stretch of the season, and is not ruling out an upset victory if everything goes right.

The offensive attack features eight different players with goals on the season, and the defense has shown steady improvement since Big East play began.

“I think we can definitely get at least one upset if we work hard, bring a lot of energy and execute the game plan,” Devaney said.

The Hoyas play No. 12 Louisville (10-6-0, 3-1-0) on Friday at 3 p.m. on Kehoe Field.

“Anything can happen in sports.” Carroll said. “We certainly respect Louisville – they’re a great program with a great coaching staff – and we’ll take the week to come up with the best game plan possible. They’re making their mark not only in the Big East, but also in the nation.”