So much for a happy ending.
The Hoyas concluded their subpar season with yet another subpar performance, losing 8-2 to the Scarlet Knights on Friday.
Georgetown (2-15) honored its most experienced players as it celebrated senior day in the last match of the regular season against Rutgers (8-9). Sure enough, the Hoyas had a dream start to the game as just two minutes into play, sophomore forward Kristen Volpe’s pass found the stick of sophomore forward Lindsay oramarco, who edged the ball past the keeper to put Georgetown in a rare early lead.
“We started off the game extremely well and got one of the quickest goals all season,” Georgetown interim Head Coach Tiffany Marsh said. “We were playing really hard from the beginning and we scored very early, which was something very positive that came out of the game.”
The Hoyas managed to hold on to their advantage for the next 10 minutes, until the Scarlet Knights’ freshman midfielder Jenna Bull won the ball in midfield in the 23rd minute and ran a solo run towards the junior goalkeeper Deirdre Crovo’s goal, shooting the ball past her for the equalizer.
Things started going downhill for the Hoyas from then on, as the Scarlet Knights’ junior midfielder Amy Lewis unleashed three quick goals within 10 minutes, with assists from sophomore forward Kristen Johnson, senior defender Corinne Bach and senior forward Catherine Badolato, to put Rutgers in a comfortable 4-1 lead at 31 minutes.
Georgetown’s top scorer, junior midfielder Katie Lachman, pulled one back three minutes from the end of the first period after barely nudging the ball past the line as both she and Rutgers’ sophomore goalkeeper Leslie Kelly lay on the floor following a one-on-one collision.
But just two minutes later, mere seconds from the halftime whistle, sophomore forward Jessika Hoh fired in a shot from the right-side of the circle thanks to an assist from senior defender arielle Zibman, taking the teams into halftime with the score at 5-2.
Rutgers fired a total of 14 shots at goal and made no saves while Georgetown only managed three shots in the first half, making two saves.
The second half started off slower than the first as the teams tightened up their defenses, but at 47 minutes, Lewis added another goal to her hat-trick as junior forward Carrie Grainger slipped her a pass, leaving her to shoot into an open goal to make it 6-2.
Freshman midfielder Heather Garces was the next to make her mark on the scoreboard, with a 56th minute goal coming off an assist from Zibman. The Scarlet Knights wrapped things up a minute from time, when Grainger fed a pass to junior forward Karen Brewster, who rocketed it out of Crovo’s reach and took the final score up to a lopsided 8-2.
Despite the heavy loss, the Hoyas did not give up, especially the three seniors on the team: defenders Lauren Sheets, Kristin Twomey and Deirdre McShea. “It ended up being a pretty good night for the seniors,” Marsh said. “The three of them played one of the better games they’ve played all season, and it was a good way for them to end their careers at Georgetown.”
The Hoyas end their regular season with two wins and 15 losses – a season that appears one-sided but according to the coach, a season that had some positive impacts on the team.
“We were playing much better near the end than we were at the beginning of the season,” Marsh said. “We suffered with a couple of overtime losses and we just got stuck with some tough teams at the end of the season so it didn’t end as well as it could have. But I think overall we made some great improvements and we’re excited for the spring and the fall season after that.
“Our next season you’re going to see a completely different Georgetown field hockey team, and as far as season records go, I think we are going to make a dramatic improvement.”
