At the end of last season, after the Georgetown women’s soccer team finished without a win in Big East play, then-Head Coach Diane Drake said, “These girls will not settle for another season like this.”
While Drake may no longer be the head coach of the Hoyas, her prediction is already ringing true.
Achieving something that they failed to accomplish all of last year, Georgetown (4-4-0) shut out St. John’s (6-3-1) on North Kehoe Field on Friday afternoon 3-0 to win their opening conference match.
“This was a big win for us,” Georgetown Head Coach Dave Nolan said. “There are no easy games in our conference, so any time you can get a win or pick up points it’s good.”
The game was an offensive slugfest for the Hoyas, who had 26 shots on the day, 14 of which were on goal. The offensive output for Georgetown kept St. John’s on the defensive end of the field for most of the game and limited them to only nine shots.
“The score was a nice surprise,” Nolan said. “We haven’t had trouble creating chances this season – we’ve been outshooting our opponents – we just don’t finish. We’ve left too many chances go begging in the box, but not in this game.”
The Hoyas got on the board for the first time in the 37th minute when junior midfielder Shara McNeill collected her own rebound and then passed it along the goal line to sophomore midfielder Ali Hawkins, who found the back of the net for her first collegiate goal.
Hawkins would not be the only Hoya to score her first goal against the Storm. With a minute remaining before halftime, senior midfielder Nicole DePalma connected with freshman midfielder Sarah Fetters in front of the goal for another easy finish. The goal was Fetters’ first in her college career as well.
Coming out of the break, the Hoyas did not give the Red Storm any time to settle in, going right back on the offensive and netting an insurance goal two minutes into the frame when senior forward Casey McCann made a pass to junior midfielder Alexandra Hardy, who put it away.
Content with the three-goal lead, the Hoyas spent the rest of the game making sure that they remained on top. After 17 shots in the first half, Georgetown backed off in the second, taking only nine. St. John’s, however, did not compensate for the Hoyas’ lack of offense with their own, taking only four shots after the break.
In the productive offensive match, 10 different Hoyas had shots and six different players were directly involved with the three goals.
Freshman goalkeeper Jade Higgins got her second shutout of the year for the Hoyas, stopping all three Red Storm shots that came her way. For her effort, Higgins was named the Big East Rookie of the Week.
“She’s had a very good season,” Nolan said of Higgins. “She doesn’t play like a freshman and she gives nothing away. Any goal that gets scored on her is a good goal.”
The Hoyas continue Big East competition on Friday, traveling to Providence to take on the Friars at 4 p.m. on Glay Field.
