After nearly 80 scoreless minutes against DePaul, the Georgetown women’s soccer team finally broke through the Blue Demons’ defense with a goal off a corner kick from senior midfielder Julia Leas.

It would be the only goal in the game for the No. 18 Hoyas (8-1-3, 4-0 Big East), but it was enough to shut out the Blue Demons (2-8, 0-3 Big East), 1-0, at Wish Field in Chicago on Oct. 2. The game was Georgetown’s seventh consecutive shutout and fourth straight win to start conference play. The Hoyas are now 4-0 in conference play, the only team to have not conceded a goal in conference play this season.

The only goal came off of the tenth of 11 total corner kicks, a product of the Blue Demon’s resilient defense.

Head Coach Dave Nolan said the Blue Demons’ strategy was to defend in a low block for most of the game.

“DePaul’s approach to the game was to kind of sit in and bunker,” Nolan told The Hoya. “Their game was to try and hang around as long as they can and hope to try to get something out of it.”

Playing conditions may have also hampered the Hoyas offensively. Instead of the Hoyas’ preferred grass, Wish Field is an artificial surface that is also significantly smaller than a regular field.

Nolan said the change of environment was detrimental to the Hoyas’ attack.

“The DePaul game was interesting because it’s on an artificial surface, which we’re never great on. We’re much better on grass,” Nolan said. “The field is very small.”

The Blue Demons’ tactics seemed to pay off while DePaul’s defense held Georgetown scoreless for 78 minutes despite a shot disparity of 13-3 in favor of the Hoyas. However, the relentless Georgetown attack eventually wore down the Blue Demons’ stingy defensive line as their 13th and final shot of the game found the back of the net.

DePaul had opportunities to score in each half coming off of counterattacks, but two of their shots sailed over the crossbar and one was saved by first-year goalkeeper Cara Martin, who finished the game with one save to notch her fifth clean sheet of the campaign.

At the beginning of the season, Coach Nolan said that the coaching staff was assembling a new team following key departures from last year.

Nolan said the roster is deeper than in years prior, which has helped the team deal with adversity and prevail in close games.

“We do have a deep enough bench this year,” Nolan said. “We do have the ability to show up in pretty much every position and we are probably deeper than we’ve been in other years.”

In addition to defensive shakeups, the staff’s emphasis on setpieces directly impacted this game.

Although the Hoyas were more dominant in the first half than in the second, Georgetown ultimately scored off of a set piece in the second half, Nolan said.

The score by Leas off of the corner kick was her first of the season. These set pieces, though often monotonous to practice, give players a chance to win the game, Nolan said.

After scoring in the 79th minute, the Hoyas controlled possession for the remaining 11 minutes to secure the 1-0 victory.

The Hoyas will hope to continue their Big East winning streak at home Oct. 6, when they return to Shaw Field against Xavier (10-2-1, 4-0-0 Big East). Georgetown will look to secure its spot atop the Big East as it plays the only other undefeated conference team.

The Musketeers have been on a six-game winning streak following two key losses to the now-No. 6 Northwestern Wildcats and then-No. 15 St. Louis Billikens in early September, and they will hope to secure their first win against a ranked team at Shaw Field. Georgetown narrowly defeated Xavier last season in a 2-1 overtime victory.

Nolan said the Musketeers are a tough conference competitor with a physical approach.

“We’re expecting a very tough game,” Nolan said. “It’s kind of sad that you’ve got the two top teams playing so early in the season, but it’ll be a good game. I’m sure the Xavier kids will be excited for it because I know our kids are, too.”

The game will kick off at 3 p.m. Oct. 6 and will be streamed online via FloSports.