After a 12-5 regular season, the Georgetown women’s lacrosse team’s season came to an end Friday against Virginia Tech (14-6, 5-2 ACC). The Hoyas lost 13-10 in their NCAA tournament debut and struggled to keep up with the pace of the Hokies.

In the first half, Georgetown got out to a fast start with a goal from junior attacker Morgan Ryan, her 22nd of the season. Freshman midfielder Caroline Frock also recorded her 11th goal of the season, giving the Hoyas a 2-0 lead in the opening minutes of the half.

Following the 2-0 start, Virginia Tech came back to score five unanswered goals, taking a comfortable lead with 12 minutes remaining in the first period. Georgetown responded with a goal from junior attacker Taylor Gebhardt. Gebhardt, who made the All-Big East first team this season, scored three goals in the game, bringing her total to 53 for the season.

With 11 minutes remaining in the half, the Hokies went on another run to score four straight goals and go into the break up 9-3. Georgetown missed nine shots in the first half, while Virginia Tech scored nine goals on 16 shots.

In the second half, the Hoyas traded goals with the Hokies for the first eight minutes of play, with each team scoring two goals. Starting at the 21-minute mark, Georgetown scored four consecutive goals, capped by sophomore attacker Michaela Bruno, to cut the deficit to 11-8 with 14 minutes remaining.

Head Coach Ricky Fried was impressed with the team’s improvement in the second half. “In the second half we played with a little more confidence, with nothing to lose … In the first half we showed that we hadn’t been here in a while, in fact none of our players have been here,” Fried said in an interview with GUHoyas.

Bruno scored her 42nd goal of the season on one of her six shots in the game. Bruno earned All-Big East second team and Big East All-Tournament team honors this season.

While Georgetown stopped Virginia Tech from scoring for over 13 minutes, the Hoyas could not hold the Hokies off for too long, as they came back with two goals to extend their lead to 13-8. Georgetown responded with back-to-back goals from Frock and Gebhardt, but it was not enough as the Hokies rolled to the victory.

For the game, the Hoyas outshot the Hokies 29-28. Senior midfielder Hannah Seibel and freshman midfielder Mary Pagano both scored goals for the Hoyas in the defeat.

Georgetown’s season now comes to a close after the team earned the two seed in the Big East tournament. The team’s 12-7 record improves upon its 9-9 season in 2017.

Despite the upsetting end to the season, the outlook for the Hoyas’ next season looks promising. They will be returning Gebhardt, fellow All-Big East first team sophomore midfielder Natalia Lynch, All-Big East second team junior goalkeeper Haelle Chomo and All-Big East second team freshman defender Mollie Miller. The Hoyas also named Nick Williams to the associate head coach position May 15. He has served as an assistant coach at the University of Florida and the University of Notre Dame. Williams will enter his new role after working as an assistant coach with Georgetown for the past five seasons.