The No. 12 Georgetown University women’s soccer team (12-2-2, 8-0 Big East) dominated 3-0 on the road Oct. 18 in Milwaukee, Wis., against Marquette University (6-5-4, 2-2-3 Big East) with a pair of goals from senior forward Natalie Means.
The Hoyas dominated possession right from the starting whistle, with senior midfielder Mary Cochran taking the first shot of the game a few minutes in, though the ball sailed out to the right. Means took her first of 6 shots just a few minutes later, with this one earning Georgetown a corner kick.
Means took 2 more shots shortly after, the second of which put Georgetown up 1-0 in the 16th minute. Senior forward Henley Tippins put in a nice assist to Means inside the box.
The Hoyas continued to dominate for the following 15 minutes with shots from Cochran and graduate forward Maja Lardner. The Golden Eagles decided that adjustments were needed in this stretch and made multiple substitutions.
These first half adjustments did not appear to work, though; in the 29th minute, a foul on Marquette allowed Means a penalty kick. Means drilled the kick to secure a brace and put Georgetown up 2-0.
Just over three minutes following the goal, the offensive onslaught continued with more shots from Tippins and Cochran.
In the final minute of the first half, senior midfielder Shay Montgomery sent in a strong strike and secured a decisive goal without an assist. This big last-minute goal put the Hoyas up 3-0, a lead the Golden Eagles would struggle to even make a dent in for the remainder of the game.
The Georgetown defense was commanding for the entire first half, only allowing one shot attempt — not on goal — by Marquette.
While the defense continued the shutout, Georgetown did not let up despite their utter dominance in the first half — the Hoyas drew two yellow cards before the 64th minute, including one by Means.
Senior goalkeeper Cara Martin got her one and only save of the day in the 66th minute, which led to a corner kick that the Golden Eagles were unable to capitalize on.
Georgetown put up a few more shot attempts before the end of the game, including a shot on goal from Means, but each was saved by the Marquette defense. Additionally, Georgetown junior defender Isabel Boodell earned a yellow card of her own in the 74th minute.
After the game, Head Coach Dave Nolan said that he felt the team played an incredible first half but got sloppy in the second, giving the team much to improve on heading into the final 2 games of the season.
“This was another very good performance by the girls tonight,” Nolan told Georgetown Athletics. “Playing out here is never easy, and I thought the team was excellent in the first half in particular. We pressed them straight off the opening whistle and had them penned in, which resulted in a great goal by Natalie Means to put us one up early.”
“That pressure led to a PK call, which Natalie tucked away for her 2nd of the night, and right before the halftime whistle, Shay Montgomery finished well to give us a 3-0 lead, and probably killed off the game,” Nolan added.
“The 2nd half was very disjointed, they started to get a little reckless, and we didn’t do the things which served us so well in the 1st half,” Nolan said. “With two games to go, v. Villanova this Wednesday, and 10 days later, a big game out in Cincinnati v. Xavier, we may end up being in for a Championship.”
The Hoyas will next play against the Villanova University Wildcats (9-6, 4-3 Big East) at home Oct. 22 as they try to continue climbing the national rankings.
