Following a seven-goal victory against LIU Brooklyn on Sept. 7, the Georgetown field hockey team headed into its matchup against Villanova on Friday Sept. 14 atop the Big East standings at 5-0.

The Villanova Wildcats (3-4, 1-0 Big East) did not have a strong offensive start to the season: The team combined for two goals in its previous two games, both of which resulted in 2-1 losses.

The Hoyas (6-1, 0-1 Big East) had six shots on net in the first half to the Wildcat’s four. The sixth shot came from freshman Halle Gill and found the back of the net to give the Hoyas an early lead.

Villanova survived Georgetown’s pressure and, shortly thereafter, evened the score. Right before the half, Villanova added another goal, taking a 2-1 lead into the break despite being outshot by the Hoyas.

The Hoyas surrendered another goal in the opening minutes of the second half, and the Wildcats added two more unanswered goals, taking a four-goal lead.

Senior forward Helena Masiello ended the unanswered Wildcat run with a goal of her own, but the Hoyas could not mount enough of a comeback effort and fell 5-2.

Looking to split their weekend series, the Hoyas took the field against La Salle (3-4) on Sunday, who are ranked eighth in the Atlantic Ten Conference.

For nearly the first 15 minutes, the game remained scoreless, as both teams could not get shots on net.

La Salle was able to capitalize off a Georgetown foul and score after a chip in from the corner, taking an early 1-0 advantage.

The Hoyas began to apply pressure on the Explorers after the goal: Four minutes before the half concluded, the Hoyas broke through, as junior midfielder Michaela Bruno scored her second goal of the season to even things up at one apiece.

Georgetown kept its momentum early in the second half after sophomore midfielder Jax Van der Veen found sophomore Cami Osborne for a goal shortly after the 37-minute mark. Osborne now has five goals on the season.

Eight minutes after Osborne broke the tie, Bruno extended the Hoya lead to two after she netted her second goal of the game, this time off a penalty on La Salle.

Feeling the pressure of a two-goal deficit, the Explorers continued to put up shots on nets before burying one and cutting the Georgetown lead in half. But the Hoyas hung on for the remaining five minutes to secure the 3-2 win.

Bouncing back after their loss against rival Villanova, the Hoyas withstood a 10-shot second half by La Salle and converted two goals in three attempts.

Head Coach Christy Longacre noted how much this win meant to the team and how important it was to bounce back following a loss.

“Today was big for us because we showed a response to Friday’s game,” Longacre said in an interview with GUHoyas.

Longacre also emphasized the need to correct the mistakes that led to Georgetown’s fall against Villanova.

“We will fix some things this week from this past weekend as we prepare for our next conference game against Quinnipiac,” Longacre said.

The Hoyas return to action on Friday as they travel to Hamden, Conn., to face the Quinnipiac Bobcats (3-4) at 3 p.m.