Eking out a come-from-behind overtime win against William & Mary on Friday may not have been how the No. 18 Georgetown women’s soccer team would have liked to start its season.

All fears of a slow start to the season, however, were erased Sunday, when the team defeated Quinnipiac in a 5-0 drubbing.

“It’s always important to get the season off to a good start,” Nolan said afterward according to the Georgetown athletic website. “Momentum and confidence builds and the only way you can get it is by getting results.”

Despite outshooting William & Mary 6-1 in the first half, the Hoyas didn’t capitalize on any of their chances. The Tribe, on the other hand, found the net on its only attempt, scoring on a back-heeled shot following a corner kick. The Blue and Gray found themselves down one at the half and their home winning streak — which stretches back to October 2011 — at risk.

“We were disappointed with the goal and we fell asleep for a bit there,” Nolan said, according to theHoyas athletic website. “I know they’ll be upset when they watch it. Without us looking like we were going to score too many goals, we had the better of the play.”

The stifling Georgetown defense, which recorded 13 shutouts last season, came out in full force, putting consistent pressure on William & Mary. The Tribe only recorded one shot in the second half, which was cleanly saved by redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Emma Newins, the Big East preseason goalkeeper of the year. Senior defender Emily Menges, who also won a Big East preseason award, was integral in helping the Hoyas on the way to their victories, earning her the honor of Big East Conference defensive player of the week.

After a number of close chances on offense for the Hoyas, the equalizer finally came in the 72nd minute from senior forward Kaitlin Brenn, who  beat two defenders to net it in the top corner. Brenn, playing without her usual partner up top, junior midfielder  and Big East preseason played the confidence and poise that made her the conference’s third-leading scorer last season.

“We talked about having players who are brave enough and courageous enough to make plays instead of hoping for it,” Nolan told the Hoyas athletic website. “KK [Kaitlin] is a great player and she’s very confident. She never lacks confidence in her own ability and she came up big for us twice today.”

And when the game remained knotted at the end of regulation and went into overtime, it was Brenn who, five minutes in, scored the go-ahead goal. After receiving a pass from junior midfielder Audra Ayotte, Brenn took the ball into the box and powered it past the William & Mary goalkeeper for her second goal of the game.

While it took an overtime period to determine the winner of Friday’s contest, it only took the opening minutes of Sunday’s match against Quinnipiac to surmise who the victor would be. After shots by junior forward Vanessa Skrumbis and sophomore forward Sarah Adams in the opening minutes put immediate pressure on the Bobcats, Skrumbis  succeeded on her second attempt and put one in at the 14th minute.

Georgetown didn’t relent, putting constant pressure on Quinnipiac with shot after shot for the rest of the half while only allowing one from the opposition. That lone attempt, however, came after junior forward Jessica Clinton added a second tally for the Hoyas a minute earlier.

The offensive kept up the pace in the second half, with the third Georgetown goal coming from Adams in the 53rd minute. Not content with the comfortable 3-0 lead, Adams continued to attack the goal with aplomb, missing out on a goal five minutes later but tapping in her second of the game in the 62nd minute.

With the victory all but guaranteed, Nelson removed most of the remaining starters with ten minutes to go. That didn’t mean the Hoyas were finished; freshman forward Hannah Howell netted the first goal of her young career with five minutes to go to bring the total to five. On the day, Georgetown attempted 17 shots to Quinnipiac’s two.