The Georgetown women’s lacrosse team defeated conference foe Marquette last weekend, earning a 9-8 overtime victory in a tightly contested game. With the win, the No. 23 Hoyas secured the No. 2 seed in the conference championship, while Marquette fell to No. 4.

“Our players have a lot of confidence in their ability to come through when it matters,” Head Coach Ricky Fried said in an interview with The Hoya. “Marquette played with more energy and confidence in the second half, but our players believe in themselves and were able to buckle down and make the right play at the end of the day.”

The Georgetown offense got off to a hot start through sophomore midfielder Natalia Lynch, who scored the first goal on a free position shot and provided an assist to senior midfielder Hannah Seibel on the following goal. With just over 11 minutes elapsed in the first half, the Hoyas (11-4, 7-1 Big East) led 4-1.

Halfway through the first half, Marquette (9-7, 5-3 Big East) scored a goal to pull within two, but subsequent goals by Lynch and freshman midfielder Caroline Frock widened Georgetown’s lead to 4. The Golden Eagles then tallied two goals in less than two minutes, reducing the Hoyas’ lead to one. Junior attacker Taylor Gebhardt netted the final goal of the first half, giving Georgetown a 7-5 lead at the break.

After Marquette scored two goals in the first five minutes to even the score at 7, sophomore attacker Michaela Bruno scored for Georgetown to briefly regain the lead. However, a Golden Eagle goal with just over 7 minutes left in regulation time again evened the score at 8-8.

Both teams nearly won the game in the final minutes. Lynch had a chance to score as the clock neared zero, but her shot was saved by the Marquette goalkeeper. Strong defensive play on both sides ensured that the game went into overtime.

Marquette won the opening draw of the extra frame, but junior attacker Morgan Ryan forced a turnover to give Georgetown a chance on offense. The Hoyas secured the victory with a set play from the right side, allowing Gebhardt to net her third goal of the game.

Gebhardt and Lynch led the Hoyas’ offense with three points each, while junior goalkeeper Haelle Chomo anchored the team on the defensive end, making seven saves on the day. The Hoyas shined on both ends of the field, outshooting the Golden Eagles 37-28 and forcing 19 turnovers.

The Georgetown women’s lacrosse team remains the only team to have qualified for every Big East championship since the inaugural tournament in 2007. The Hoyas secured their 12th straight conference championship appearance with the win. However, Coach Fried said he isn’t looking ahead to the tournament just yet.

“Every game is important because of our long-term goal of making the [NCAA Tournament],” Fried said. “In order to do that we have to be competitive in the last couple games … [Our main focus is] getting that consistency down and playing on both ends of the field.”

With the postseason now clinched, Georgetown returns to the field on Wednesday for its final home game, against No. 10 Loyola. The game is set to start at 3 p.m. at Cooper Field.