United Soccer Coaches, the leading body of collegiate soccer coaches, named four Georgetown University soccer players — two each from the women’s and men’s teams — All-American honorees Dec. 5 and Dec. 12 respectively.
The United Soccer Coaches named senior midfielder Zach Zengue a first-team All-American and sophomore forward Mitchell Baker a second team All-American on the men’s side. Graduate forward Maja Lardner received a second-team All-American honor, and senior goalkeeper Cara Martin a third-team All-American honor on the women’s side of the program. This marked each of the players’ first times receiving the honor.
Zengue and Baker both posted 14 goals on the season, tying them for eighth in the country in goals scored, and spearheaded an offense leading the country with 52 goals on the season. Both players were recently named semifinalists for the MAC Hermann trophy, collegiate soccer’s most prestigious award presented to the top Division I soccer player. Baker and Zengue also both earned first team honors for the all-East region, also awarded by United Soccer Coaches, Dec. 9.
Lardner also posted 14 goals on the season and offensively led the Hoyas to a perfect conference record and a Sweet 16 performance where they fell to the eventual national champions, Florida State University. Martin’s stellar performance in goal — culminating in 8 shutouts and 59 saves on the season — worked in tandem with the offensive front this season. The United Soccer Coaches named both to the all-East region first team.
Zengue has been an offensive threat since his arrival on the Hilltop, and this season he found himself at the top of the field. Zengue is tied for first in the nation in total points, with 14 goals and 14 assists to his name. He was unanimously named the Big East midfielder of the year after having been named to the first-team all-Big East last year and third-team all-Big East two years ago.
In addition to being named a MAC Hermann trophy semifinalist, Zengue was also named to the preseason and midseason watchlists. Zengue recorded 3 braces and a hat trick throughout the season, securing 15 points during an early season 3-game stretch.
Last season, Baker enjoyed an impressive first-year performance where he ranked third on the team in scoring with 12 points on the season. This year, he worked his way up to the second team lead and garnered a unanimous selection to the all-Big East first team.
Baker recorded 2 braces — and the team’s only points — in the Big East semifinal matchup against Providence College and the Hoyas’ round of 32 match against the University of Central Florida. Baker also led the Big East conference in game-winning goals with 5, enough to place him sixth in the nation.
Since arriving on the Hilltop, Martin has worked her way up the keeper rotation, appearing in 10 matches her first-year season and three her sophomore year. She appeared in all games her junior season, mainly playing one half, and started in all 23 matches this season, recording over 2,000 minutes in goal.
In her first year as a Hoya, Martin was named the Big East goalkeeper of the week on one occasion and has since become the two-time reigning Big East goalkeeper of the year. Starting at the end of September, Georgetown went on a six-week clean sheet run, recording 9 shutouts, during all of which Martin played the majority of minutes in goal.
Returning for her fifth year, Lardner followed up her senior year domination to lead the team in goals and points for the second year in a row. In her first three seasons on the Hilltop, Lardner recorded 1, 2 and 3 goals respectively, returning for 11 goals and a starting position her senior year, and 14 goals and 4 assists this year.
Similar to Martin, Lardner became the two-time reigning Big East offensive player of the year this season, recording 3 braces throughout the season.
While both the men’s and women’s soccer seasons are over, both teams had an impressive run. Zengue and Baker led the men’s team to a series of feats: a Big East regular season title, a Big East championship title, a No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament, the Hoyas’ first Elite 8 appearance since 2021 and the national lead in goals scored. Lardner and Martin helped lead the women’s team to a perfect 10-0 conference record, the team’s fourth consecutive Big East regular season title, their first Sweet 16 appearance since 2020 and a final No. 9 national ranking.
