After putting up three goals in a two-goal loss to No. 1 Connecticut Huskies on Friday, the field hockey team was able to rebound on Senior Day with a decisive 4-0 victory over Towson (2-15, 0-4 Colonial Athletic).
In Friday’s 5-3 decision, the then-undefeated UConn Huskies (16-1, 6-0 Big East) were able to jump out to an early 2-0 lead before the Hoyas (5-11, 0-6 Big East) fought back, starting with a goal from freshman forward Lindsay Getz.
After another pair of goals, senior forward Aliyah Graves-Brown was able to bring the Hoyas within one point of the Huskies when she tallied the team’s third goal of the match, making the score 4-3.
Ultimately, however, Connecticut sealed the win with a penalty stroke from junior defender Casey Umstead with fewer than five minutes remaining. Despite the two-goal defeat, Georgetown scored more goals than any other team that has faced Connecticut so far this year.
The Hoyas then carried Friday’s momentum into Sunday’s Senior Day celebration against the Towson Tigers. Georgetown started the scoring off with a combined effort from two freshmen when Getz was able to find the back of the net off an assist from midfielder Michaela Bruno.
Senior captain and defender Molly Thompson got on the board before the end of the first half, scoring on a penalty corner in the 28th minute. Junior defender Katie Maransky and Getz rounded out the scoring giving the Hoyas their first shutout since September of last year.
“I mean, it’s very exciting, but of course it comes from everybody else,” Getz said of her performance. “[The goals] were second and third efforts on my part, and the people who took the first shots really played outstanding — the whole team played outstanding. It’s exciting to be able to get those rebounds.”
Getz’s goals put her in the team lead with seven goals and 14 points. Should the results hold through next weekend, Getz could become the first freshman to finish the season in first place in goals and points since Jessica Quinn in 2002, who finished the season with 11 goals and 23 points.
“Friday was honestly such a defining moment, especially for this senior class,” Graves-Brown said of the game. “This weekend overall was just a great way to send us out. Everyone worked so hard on Friday, and our biggest thing was to carry our momentum from Friday into today, and I think we did that.”
Senior goalkeeper Rachel Skonecki played a crucial role in helping Georgetown earn its first shutout of the 2016 season. The shutout marked the first of this year and the ninth of her career. With Sunday’s win, she now holds second place all-time in career shutouts and is in third place with 19 career wins.
Sunday’s victory not only capped off a solid weekend for the Hoyas, but also an impressive collegiate career for six graduating seniors: Graves-Brown, McDonald, Skonecki, Thompson and defenders Devin Holmes and Hailey Vann.
“The senior class is amazing,” Getz said. “I have never met a better group of six people to lead the team, especially the captains. They are amazing, and it was awesome to be a freshman and share their last time playing on Cooper Field with them.”
The Hoyas are set to close out their season on the road next weekend. They will travel to Villanova, Pa., to face the Wildcats (4-12, 1-5 Big East) on Saturday, Oct. 29 and then will take on the LaSalle Explorers (7-7, 4-2 Atlantic 10) in Philadelphia, Pa., on Oct. 30.
“We’ve had a lot of ups and downs in our four years, this senior class especially,” Graves-Brown said. “To kind of see the growth from our freshman year to now is just such a blessing. Friday, today and this weekend was just such a great representation of all the hard work that each and every one of us has put in over the last four years.”
