The No. 10 Georgetown University women’s soccer team lost in a surprising upset to the No. 22 Xavier University Musketeers at the Big East Championship Sunday, Nov. 9.
With this victory, the Musketeers (15-3-2, 8-1-1 Big East) broke their three-year losing streak at the championship, upsetting the heavily-favored Hoyas (15-3-2, 10-0-0 Big East) to claim their first Big East title since 2019.
Georgetown, who had won seven of the last ten Big East soccer tournaments, boasted a perfect conference record going into the final. Just eight days before the match, the Hoyas took down Xavier 4-0, dominating the game early on with three goals before halftime. Two of the four Georgetown goals came from corners, an area they struggled to connect with in the championship game.
Xavier dominated possession early in the championship game and drew a penalty in the 9th minute after junior defender Kaya Hanson’s handball in the box. Musketeer forward Samantha Erbach drove the spot-kick into the left corner of the net and gave Xavier an early 1-0 advantage.
Georgetown upped their intensity, searching for an equalizer by sending play through senior forward Natalie Means and graduate forward Maja Lardner. Despite winning several corners early on, the Hoyas were unable to connect and were left frustrated by the Musketeers’ defense.
By the end of the first half, Georgetown dominated possession and relentlessly pressed forward, but their offense did not effectively test the well-organized Xavier defense, led by goalkeeper Maria Galley and 2025 Big East defender of the year Natalie Bain.
The score at halftime was still 1-0, with Erbach’s penalty the only goal. Both teams brought a higher level of intensity and physicality in the second half, with the championship on the line.
In the 51st minute, Means played a dangerous cross to senior midfielder Mary Cochran from the right side. Cochran controlled the ball well, then spun to face the net but failed to get enough power on her shot to get it past Galley.
The Musketeers continued to push forward, creating some key chances early on in the half.
In the 54th minute, Georgetown goalkeeper Cara Martin made an outstanding save off of Erbach’s looping header, diving back into her goal to claw it off the line. Throughout the half, Martin kept the Hoyas in the game despite heavy pressure from Erbach.
Georgetown had their first solid chance of the game in the 58th minute when Cochran played Lardner a ball behind the Xavier defense. Lardner barreled an angled shot towards the lower right corner, but Galley parried it away and diffused the danger. Less than a minute later, Lardner turned at the edge of the box and curled an effort toward the top left corner, but Galley made another great save and pushed it out for a corner.
The game’s intensity only heightened as the second half progressed, with the two teams trading possession and counterattacks in a dramatic end-to-end style.
In the 69th minute, the Hoyas’ senior midfielder Shay Montgomery lofted a ball into the box for an onrushing Lardner, but Galley raced off her line and closed the forward down, making an excellent save off of an attempted chip.
Despite Georgetown’s second-half possession domination, Xavier continued to push forward and found an answer against the run of play in the 79th minute. After the Hoyas failed to clear a Musketeers cross, forward Regan Dancer scored from point-blank range to double the Musketeer lead.
Georgetown continued to press forward in the final ten minutes, but Galley foiled every attempt to keep the score at 2-0.
After the match, Georgetown head coach Dave Nolan said he was disappointed with the result but proud of the team’s efforts.
“In the second half, I thought we came out and played really well, put them under a lot of pressure and had some really good moments,” Nolan told Georgetown Athletics.
“But the game turns on moments,” Nolan added. “They made their moments, and we didn’t make ours.”
By securing the Big East title, Xavier receives an automatic bid to the 2025 NCAA tournament, while Georgetown must contend with an unfortunate end to a historic Big East season. In spite of this disappointment, Georgetown secured a second seed in the NCAA tournament and will host Sacred Heart in the first round on Nov. 14 on Shaw Field.
