No. 10 Georgetown beat Xavier University at Shaw Field on Thursday before tying Creighton University on Sunday at the homestand, keeping the Hoyas undefeated in the Big East. 

The Musketeers challenged the Hoya defense from the whistle, recording five shots, one of which was on goal. They also recorded two corner kicks to the Hoyas’ one shot on goal in the first 21 minutes of play. 

Despite a lack of offensive opportunity at the beginning of play, the Blue and Gray (10-2-2, 4-0-1 Big East) earned a promising chance on net when sophomore forward Boo Jackson was fouled in the box to draw a penalty in the 25th minute. Senior midfielder Carson Nizialek took to the penalty mark and successfully slotted the ball past the Musketeers’ (10-3-2, 3-2-0 Big East) keeper to put the Hoyas up 1-0. 

In the 40th minute, Nizialek was given the ball at the penalty mark again after the Xavier defense tripped graduate forward Amanda Carolan in the box. Nizialek found the back of the net once again, giving the Hoyas a 2-0 lead at halftime. The two goals mark Nizialek’s first and second of the season. 

The Musketeers responded to the pair of penalty kicks with offensive pressure in the second half, leading to a promising opportunity in the 48th minute when the ball was slotted past freshman keeper Anna Leat, who came off her line. The opportunity was quickly shut down, however, by senior defender Meaghan Nally, who fell in behind Leat to clear the ball away. 

Few opportunities presented themselves for either side in the remainder of the half until Xavier found the back of the net in the last five minutes of play. The goal came from inside the box after Leat stepped out of the net. The Musketeer offense powered the ball past Leat on the right side to put themselves within one goal of the Hoyas. Despite the late goal, however, the Musketeers failed to find an equalizer in the remaining minutes of the half, resulting in a 2-1 victory for the Hoyas. 

The late goal by Xavier broke the Georgetown defense’s 530-minute scoreless streak that spanned over five matches and marks the first Big East goal conceded by Georgetown this season. 

The Musketeers outshot the Hoyas on the day, tallying 10 shots with three on goal to the Hoyas’ four, all of which were on net for Georgetown. This outcome marks only the third time this season that an opponent has outshot Georgetown, with the other opponents being Duke University and the University of Virginia. Georgetown’s four shots also represent a season low, yet the quality of the shots was high enough to earn the victory. 

The Musketeers earned six corner kicks to the Hoyas’ two, and both keepers recorded two shots on the day. The win for Georgetown marks its seventh straight victory and its 15th straight Big East win. 

To finish out the week, Georgetown hosted the Creighton Bluejays (7-5-2, 1-2-2 Big East) on Sunday. The game opened in favor of the Hoyas, with the Blue and Gray offense tallying two shots and two corner kicks before the Bluejays had any opportunity on net. 

Creighton kicked off the scoring in the 18th minute with a shot from the top of the box that landed in the left corner of the goal. The Bluejays then struck again in the 42nd minute with a goal off a free kick. 

Heading into the second half down by two, it did not take the Hoyas long to challenge the Bluejay defense. The Blue and Gray put up seven shots in the opening 20 minutes of the half before notching a goal in the 64th minute. Freshman midfielder Julia Leas powered a header off a corner by Jackson into the net for the Hoyas’ first goal. 

Georgetown soon earned the equalizer in the 73rd minute as freshman forward Sofie Fox capitalized off a deflected shot from senior forward Paula Germino-Watnick following Carolan’s cross into the box.

The match went on through double overtime, totaling 110 minutes of play, to end in a 2-2 tie. Georgetown outshot Creighton with 22 shots, nine on goal, to Creighton’s 11, seven on frame. The Hoyas also tallied 13 corner kicks to the Bluejays’ three. While not an outright victory, a draw keeps the Hoyas undefeated in conference play. 

Georgetown will next head to Indianapolis to face Butler University in a Big East matchup Sunday, Oct. 20, with kickoff slated for 1 p.m.