The Georgetown women’s lacrosse team (3-9, 2-1 Big East) beat Villanova (7-5, 2-1 Big East) 9-5 on Wednesday to record its first road win of the season and snap a two-game losing streak.
Georgetown had dropped games to No. 1 Maryland (13-0), 12-3, and No. 8 Florida (10-4), 18-4, before rebounding on the trip to Philadelphia.
Jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead within eight minutes proved invaluable, as the Wildcats were never able to recover against a stingy Hoya defense, which allowed just one goal in the first half.
Junior attacker Corinne Etchison, junior midfielder Kristen Bandos and senior attacker Caroline Tarzian all notched two goals among a barrage of 31 Blue and Gray shots, compared to Villanova’s 18.
Though Georgetown only scored on nine of its 31 total shots, Head Coach Ricky Fried was still pleased with the confidence shown in the strong overall performance.
“I think it starts with the draw control,” Fried said. “We did really well in that area, and that gives us possession. We played with a lot of confidence on the offensive end, because they play a zone and we were very prepared to play against it. … Obviously, getting that first goal really helped, and we built on the momentum that gave us.”
Georgetown controlled a majority of loose balls, winning ground balls 29-19 and draw controls 11-6, which led to the time of possession necessary to close out the low-scoring game and ensure the win.
Sophomore goalkeeper Maddie Fisher made seven saves in the Hoya victory and allowed five goals in the 60 minutes.
Despite the chilly, occasionally rainy weather, Georgetown was able to bear down and focus on creating good opportunities against the Villanova zone.
After two straight losses, including a poor performance in the Florida game when the Hoyas found themselves down 6-0 eight minutes in, Fried thought the team had something to prove against Villanova.
“In the Maryland game, we played really well defensively and held a very strong team to one of their lowest outputs of the year,” Fried said. “Offensively, unfortunately, we didn’t really show up too well, for whatever reason. [In] Florida, we didn’t show up very well at all, and against a really good team, we get a result like we ended up with.”
While Georgetown’s match against Florida started off badly, in the Hoyas’ match against the Terrapins on April 1, Georgetown was level with Maryland 1-1 with just 12 minutes remaining in the first half. However, seven unanswered Maryland goals to close the first half and start the second put an end to Georgetown’s defensive efforts.
The 12 goals scored by Maryland tied for the second-lowest number they have tallied in any game this season.
The Hoyas next take on Cincinnati at noon on Saturday at Multi-Sport Field. Georgetown is looking to win consecutive games for the first time this season.
