One decade. That’s how long it’s been since the Hoyas last began a season 2-0. As remarkable a feat as that is, consider then that Georgetown has compiled just two wins combined over the last two seasons, in which the Blue and Gray went a startling 2-35.

“It’s pretty rewarding,” sophomore forward Catherine Shugrue said. “It’s exciting to see that the team is rebuilding and shifting.”

That is, shifting to a younger squad. Of the 19 players on the roster, 16 are either sophomores or freshmen. The youth factor hasn’t been an issue so far, as it was last year. The Hoyas managed just 24 goals the entire 2009 season, but have already netted 10 in the first two games of 2010.

“It’s been a lot of conditioning. We had three-a-days in preseason and it’s just been a lot of practicing,” Shugrue said.

Shugrue is one of the second-year players on the team, a group that, as Head Coach Tiffany Marsh states, has been able to learn a lot from a freshman year loaded with playing time.

“I think a lot of it is experience at this point,” Marsh said. “We had a lot of freshmen last year and now we have a lot of sophomores with a lot of playing experience under their belt and not a lot of sophomores have that experience. They worked really hard in the off-season and now they have the chance to show people how hard they can play.”

Shugrue has done just that, scoring a hat-trick in the Hoyas’ season-opening, 6-1 win over Bryant last Saturday.

“I think that the offense has really clicked,” Shugrue said. “Everyone’s been moving on the forward line, and we’ve had a lot of opportunities and we’ve just been capitalizing.”

The 6-1 win against Bryant was the largest total for Georgetown since the 2000 season, when the Blue and Gray posted six goals apiece against Catholic and Rider. Sophomore forward Annie Wilson was second in scoring behind Shugrue, posting two goals and handing out an assist.

“[We’re] working together, way more than I’ve ever seen our team work together before, and communicating effectively,” sophomore goalkeeper Brianna Pereira said.

Pereira joined Shugrue this week on this week’s Big East honor roll, after Pereira recorded her first career shutout against the St. Francis Red Flash on Sunday.

“Every time one of the defense gets beat, there’s someone else backing them up. No one is ever left high and dry,” Pereira said. “When it comes down to it, I kind of get into a really good zone. Obviously practice is important, but I feel totally different when I’m playing the game, and that all starts with preparation.”

“Brianna is in a big position right now being our only goalkeeper and she’s really stepped up,” Marsh said. “She’s worked really hard and she’s going to be a big contributor for our defense. Catherine, she’s going to be a big goal scorer. She had a pivotal role on corners and she has a very hard shot and I think she’s very dangerous. I think we’ll be seeing a lot of her this season.”

The 2-0 record doesn’t quite do justice to how well the Hoyas have played. They’ve scored 10 goals on just 31 shots, while opponents have just one goal on 16 shot attempts – a 0.062 shooting percentage. Still, the young Georgetown squad is careful not to get comfortable.

“Always work harder than you did yesterday.” Marsh said, Shugrue and Pereira all repeated that team mantra.

“You can’t be complacent. Not feel like just because we’ve won two games, we’re fine,” Pereira added. “A lot of teams step on the field knowing they’re going to win. They take no mercy and we need to look at that and see that those programs are successful, and successful against our team, and we should take some of that and give it back to them. We go into a lot of games being the underdog. We need to try to build our own attitude, a chip on our shoulder.”

arsh, meanwhile, is taking things slow, setting simple goals.

“We’re trying to figure it out one day at a time, one week at a time,” Marsh said. “Slowly but surely we’re marking our way into the next area in the Big East and showing people that we’re here to play.”