The Georgetown field hockey team (2-5, 0-1 Big East) suffered a pair of tough losses this weekend against Big East rival Louisville (6-2, 1-0 Big East) on Saturday and against Towson (4-3) on Sunday. The Hoyas allowed five goals in each game and simply weren’t sharp enough offensively to compensate for their leaky defense.

The Hoyas opened their Big East schedule against the Cardinals with a 5-0 shutout defeat. The Cardinals, who were ranked in the top 20 earlier in the season, have been one of the Big East’s top field hockey teams in recent seasons.

Louisville challenged Georgetown throughout the game. Though the Hoyas played well in the early minutes of Saturday’s contest, diffusing numerous Louisville attacks, they were quickly down to the Cards. After 10 minutes, Louisville senior midfielder Hayley Turner finally broke down the Blue and Gray defense and scored her first of two goals on the day. Her corner kick was initially blocked by Georgetown junior goalie Briana Pereira but managed to find the back of the net. It went from bad to worse by halftime for the Hoyas, as the Cardinals tallied three more times by intermission to make the score 4-0 at the break.

“Our team struggled the most with flexibility on the field in handling certain situations,” Head Coach Tiffany Marsh said.

“We came out extremely hard against Louisville and dominated the first 15 minutes of the game,” junior forward Charlotte Tierney said. “However we were not able to maintain this composure throughout the entirety of the game.”

The Hoyas certainly improved in the second half but the Cardinals’ first-half scoring spree was too much to overcome. Georgetown’s defense tightened up and held Louisville to six shots and one goal in the second half after the visitors’ 11-shot and four-goal first half performance. The Hoya offense couldn’t pick up the slack, though, and it wasn’t until the 57th minute that junior midfielder Katy Wingo took the team’s first and only shot of the game.

The Blue and Gray headed to the field on Sunday ready to play Towson and hoping to get their record closer to .500. Unlike Louisville, Towson hasn’t been ranked this year and has had problems of its own, but they nevertheless produced an offensive performance similar to that of the more highly-touted Cardinals.

“We failed to capitalize on a few offensive opportunities in both games,” Tierney said.

Once again the Hoya defense struggled in the first half, conceding four goals before halftime. The offense wasn’t quite as futile against Towson as it had been on Saturday, but the Hoyas still struggled to create chances and were outshot 18-5.

“We need to be more flexible in making adjustments on the field, and not wait until halftime,” Marsh said.

The Hoyas’ only goal of the weekend came in the second half when Tierney was able to escape numerous defenders off a turnover and score her first goal of the season. That goal wasn’t enough to spark a Georgetown comeback, though, and the game ended with the Tigers on top of a lopsided 5-1 scoreline.

“The goal was an offensive opportunity that we were able to capitalize on as a team,” Tierney said. “We worked as one unit to complete our full-field movement, presenting an opportunity for the offense to execute.”

“I think the positive that we take from this is that we know the pace, tempo and tactical adjustments that need to be taken in to every game we play from here on out,” Marsh said.

The Hoyas will hit the road this weekend to take on a pair of Pennsylvania opponents — Lock Haven on Saturday and St. Francis on Sunday.