Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Field Hockey | Georgetown Splits Homestand

The Georgetown field hockey team (3-4) finished with a win and a loss during this weekend’s home stand, notching a 1-0 overtime victory over the Longwood Lancers (3-5) on Saturday before falling 2-4 to the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (2-6) on Sunday.

The Hoyas began the weekend against the Lancers in a tough back-and-forth battle for possession. During the first half, both teams struggled to establish a commanding offensive presence. Georgetown’s first shot of the game came from senior defender Elizabeth Mueller in the last three minutes of the half, but it went wide. Longwood took four shots during the half, but all were unsuccessful, sending the teams into halftime scoreless.

The pace of the second half was similar to the first. Longwood added another three shots, but Georgetown sophomore goalkeeper Rachel Skonecki made two big saves to keep Longwood off the scoreboard. Junior midfielder Emily Weinberg attempted both of Georgetown’s second-half shots late in the game, but both were blocked by Longwood’s defense. The score would remain 0-0 through the end of regulation, sending the teams into a sudden-death overtime period.

After playing 70 minutes in a deadlock, Georgetown’s offense finally clicked within the first few minutes of overtime as junior forward Sarah Butterfield broke away from her defender and found the back of the net to seal Georgetown’s first win on their home turf.

Butterfield, who is second on the team in shots with 11, said that the increased intensity of overtime helped her team come together for one last push toward victory.

“Of course, we always want to win in regular time, just because it’s seven versus seven in overtime, and it’s extremely tiring, but there is a lot of energy and fire, and it’s sudden death,” Butterfield said. “It’s definitely exciting winning in overtime, although we never would like to get to that stage — we’d like to finish it a lot earlier.”

First-year Head Coach Shannon Soares hoped that the enthusiasm and motivation she saw during overtime would propel the Hoyas to another win the next day against the Mountain Hawks.

“I think we’re happy with the result, but [we’re] not satisfied and not settling, and [we’re] pushing forward,” Soares said after the game. “Overtime wins are definitely very emotional wins for us, and we’re proud of the finish and proud of our kids’ energy and fight in this game, but we turn the page very quickly, and we focus on a tough Lehigh team tomorrow.”

On Sunday, Georgetown had a strong start against Lehigh, putting more pressure on its opponent and creating more offensive attacks than it had the night before. However, the Hoyas struggled to balance these efforts in their defensive zone, ultimately giving the Mountain Hawks enough opportunities to pull away with a 4-2 win.

The first half seemed promising for the Blue and Gray, as the home side maintained a commanding offensive presence for the first 20 minutes of the game. Butterfield and senior forward Molly Denzel both had shots before Weinberg put the Hoyas on the board in the 16th minute off a penalty corner. The Mountain Hawks answered with a goal of their own in the last of three penalty corners attempted in the span of one minute as the teams entered the second half tied at 1-1.

Early in the second half, Georgetown and Lehigh traded goals, making the score 2-2 by the 40th minute, with half an hour to decide the result. From this point onward, the Mountain Hawks would dictate the pace of the goal, overpowering the Hoyas by scoring two unanswered goals. Lehigh’s 12 total shots and 11 total penalty corners gave it a slight edge against Georgetown, which finished with nine total shots and 10 total penalty corners.

After an emotional win the night before and the challenge of a stretch of road games approaching the week ahead, Soares says the team needs to do a better job of focusing on the task at hand.

“It was a quick turnaround, but it’s no excuse for us,” Soares said. “We have to have the mentality to be able to push through a little bit of fatigue, be able to push through a little bit of heat, and create our own momentum and build off of an emotional win that we had against Longwood.”

Soares believes developing this focus will give Georgetown consistent performanced and more success on the field.

“Right now we’re looking for consistency, I can tell you that,” Soares said. “I honestly think they’ve prepared, I think that they’re there fundamentally, I think it’s a matter of believing it, and a matter of being able to push forward and build off of momentum, and not take one step forward and two steps back, but to continue to make strides forward.”

Up next, the Hoyas will be on the road in New York as they take on Siena (0-6) on Friday, Sept. 26, and Columbia (4-2) on Sunday, Sept. 28.

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