GU Prepares for Weekend Matches Against No. 1 Notre Dame, Pitt

This weekend, the Georgetown women’s soccer team will see both ends of the Big East spectrum. Today, the Hoyas will face their biggest test of the season against undefeated No. 1 Notre Dame, winners of 11 consecutive games and the past five Big East tournaments. On Sunday, Georgetown will play a Pittsburgh team that has won only one of its past five games and currently inhabits the cellar of the Big East Mid-Atlantic Division.

Georgetown is riding its momentum, coming off shutout wins against UNC-Wilmington and divisional rival Seton Hall last weekend. The Hoyas displayed a great balance of offense and defense in the two games and gave it a full 90-minute effort for the first time this season.

The Hoya defense, which was struggling earlier in the season, has stabilized with the implementation of a conservative zone defensive strategy. The strength of the team this season, though, has been the offense, which has already produced 33 goals. Georgetown only amassed 35 during all of last season.

Sophomore forward Karin Ostrander, who had two goals last weekend, should be fully recovered from her hamstring injury to rejoin a potent offense led by senior midfielder Liz Delgado, who is tied for second in the Big East with 20 points.

A healthy Georgetown team will still be the underdogs against a Notre Dame unit that shut out Rutgers, 2-0, and held the Scarlet Knight’s offense without a single shot. The Fighting Irish are carrying a 309-minute shutout streak into today’s game and have seven shutouts this season.

For their efforts last weekend, Notre Dame players took three of the four Big East Player of the Week awards. Senior All-American forward Anne Makinen, who leads the league with 29 points (nine goals, eight assists), was named Big East Co-Offensive Player of the Week. Vanessa Pruzinsky was named Defensive Player of the Week, and forward Randi Scheller was named Rookie of the Week. Along with goalkeeper Liz Wagner, who is averaging a conference-leading 0.42 goals per game, the Fighting Irish boast some of the top players in the nation.

The last time the Hoyas faced the Irish, they fell in an overwhelming 10-0 loss. In that game, Notre Dame attempted 44 shots compared to zero for Georgetown.

After Friday’s game against Notre Dame, the 6-4-2 overall (1-0-1 Big East) Hoyas will have to focus on a young Pittsburgh team, which features nine freshmen and 11 sophomores. The Panthers will have Co-Offensive Player of the Week forward Annette Agredano on their front line. But the real question of the game is whether the Hoyas will be motivated for Sunday’s game after the highly anticipated matchup with the Fighting Irish; Pittsburgh is 1-4 in conference play and 4-9 overall. The Panthers took the Hoyas to a 0-0 tie last year, but are coming off a 2-0 loss to West Virginia.

Georgetown plays host to Notre Dame today at 4 p.m., and faces Pittsburgh Sunday at 1 p.m., both on Harbin Field.