Charles Nailen/The Hoya Junior defense Melissa Biles and the Hoyas shut down the Husky offense in their 10-4 win Saturday.

Remaining true to preseason predictions, the Georgetown women’s lacrosse team secured a perfect record in Big East Conference games with a 10-4 victory over conference foe Connecticut on Saturday. With the victory the No. 2 Hoyas concluded their season with only one loss.

Georgetown’s 14-1 record represents the best winning percentage in the program’s history and its 6-0 record in the Big East, the second straight season the Hoyas have run the table, brings Georgetown its second title in the two years of Big East Conference women’s lacrosse.

Balance defined the first half of the game. The Huskies scored first, tallying a goal just over four minutes into the contest. The Hoyas answered immediately as senior attack Erin Elbe found the back of the net only 11 seconds later to tie the game at one.

The next 10 minutes saw strong defense on both ends of the field, as each team held the other scoreless. Finally, just over halfway through the period junior midfielder Liz Ryan ended the scoring drought for Georgetown. The Hoyas’ lead did not last long, however. The Huskies quickly responded with a goal of their own, and again the score was tied.

The balance collapsed as the half wound down and Georgetown began to take over. Ryan tallied two consecutive goals in the final two and a half minutes. Time ran out on Connecticut before the Huskies were able to respond to Ryan’s run.

The Huskies began the second period in the same fashion the Hoyas had ended the first. They reeled off two straight goals to knot the score at 4-4. But those two tallies were the last two the Huskies would score. From then on it was all Hoyas.

Elbe scored her second goal of the day, and junior attack Wick Stanwick got on the board. She netted her first goal just 26 seconds after Elbe’s and went on to put up two more consecutive goals. Freshman midfielder Allison Chambers netted one and junior attack Tracey Weickel capped off Georgetown’s six-goal second half when she scored with only three seconds left in the game.

Georgetown led Connecticut 23-17 in shots taken and senior goalkeeper Chandler Vicchio had 10 saves on the day while allowing only four goals. The Hoyas and the Huskies each controlled seven draws. Georgetown overcame Connecticut’s huge 24-2 advantage in groundballs for its sixth consecutive victory to end the season.

Regular season success, however, is far from the ultimate goal of the 2002 Hoya squad. Last season, the Hoyas marched into the NCAA Tournament ranked third in the nation. Georgetown beat Hofstra, North Carolina and Loyola on its way to the championship game. There they suffered a heart breaking 13-12 double overtime loss at the hands of eventual champion Maryland.

Having already handed a 10-6 loss to seven-time defending national champion Maryland this year, Georgetown looks to be in top form moving into the post season and toward its goal of a national championship.

Winning the Big East title also means an automatic bid to this season’s NCAA Tournament. The Hoyas begin first round action at home on May 9. Their opponent, and the rest of the 16 team field, will be announced Sunday.

Whoever Georgetown takes on in the opening round and as they move through the tournament, their goal of winning a national title will be contingent on the play of veterans such as Elbe, who scored six goals in last year’s final round loss and is playing better now than then. For the third consecutive week, Elbe earned Big East honors as the offensive player of the week.

After the most successful season in program history, the Hoyas begin their run at the national title on Thursday, May 9. Game time and opponent are to be announced.