The Georgetown women’s soccer team dominated its fourth match of the season Sunday, overwhelming a Loyola Maryland squad en route to their 5-0 sweep.
The No. 11 Hoyas (3-1-0, Big East) scored three goals in the first half to take control of the game. By the game’s end, Georgetown outshot Loyola (1-3-0, Patriot League) 16-1 and had a 9-4 advantage in corner kicks.
The Hoyas’ junior goalkeeper Arielle Schechtman recorded her third-straight shutout in net, needing to make only one save in the 16th minute.
“I think collectively we played really well in the first half,” junior forward Caitlin Farrell said. “It was nice to get off to that really quick start and then just kind of build off of that.”
Farrell had four shots on goal in the contest, which she turned into her first two goals of the year, both off assists from sophomore forward Casey Richards.
Richards got her first start of the year at forward, alongside usual starting forwards Farrell and sophomore Amanda Carolan. The change in formation was in part to prepare for Friday’s game on the road against No. 5-ranked Stanford.
Georgetown Head Coach Dave Nolan said he also wanted to reward the players whom he thought deserved to start.
“We want players to show that they deserve minutes,” Nolan said. “We want players to make me get our best players on the field, as opposed to trying to force players into a system.”
Senior midfielder Rachel Corboz also had two goals in the match, one in the first half off a cross from freshman midfielder Isabelle Fuchs and another with just a few minutes remaining on a penalty kick.
Sophomore midfielder Carson Nizialek came off the bench to deliver a goal for the Hoyas three minutes into the second half. In total, seven players recorded at least one point for Georgetown.
Despite the lopsided score, Nolan still saw room for improvement in preparation for Friday.
“We need to get a little bit better pressure on the ball. I thought there were times today where we got ourselves in trouble where we had numbers around the ball, but we were too passive,” Nolan said. “When we could press the ball, we chose to drop, and that allowed them to play out. And a good team like Stanford — two passes will have them on the other side of the field 15 yards from your goal. We can’t afford to have that.”
Friday’s game at Stanford will be the second time this season that Georgetown squares off against a ranked team, according to United Soccer Coaches.
“I think we just need to get ready for them because they’re such a good team, and it will be tough going out on their home field in front their home fans,” Farrell said. “But we are definitely up for it and looking forward to it.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Eastern on Friday.
