Sophomore midfielder Ashby Kaestner and sophomore attacker Molly Ford helped Georgetown to a dream start to the season, scoring career highs of six and three goals, respectively, in a 21-goal thriller as the Hoyas beat rival George Washington University 11-10 Wednesday.
“The game was hard the entire time,” Kaestner said. “We weren’t as mentally prepared as we thought we were going to be. It was really close; we were nervous the whole time.”
The Hoyas barely managed to cling on to their one-goal lead in the waning seconds of the game, thanks to two split-second saves by substitute freshman goalkeeper Lauren Thomas in the last 32 seconds of the game.
Thomas saved three and let one through after replacing sophomore goalkeeper Caitlin Formby with 7:35 to go. Formby, who faced the brunt of the Colonial attack, had the same number of saves but let through nine.
The first four minutes of play saw four goals: three coming from GW’s sophomore attacker Mia Breheny, senior defender Kelsey Honeyford and senior attacker Laura Wunk, while the Hoyas only managed one with senior midfielder Patty Piotrowicz’s goal off an assist by Ford.
After GW’s third goal, the Hoya defense took charge and controlled the pace, holding their opponents scoreless for the next 11 minutes. Meanwhile, things were finally looking lively on the attacking half, as top-scorer Kaestner picked up her own rebound and shot again for the Hoyas’ second, and Ford recorded her second assist of the game by helping senior attacker Zan Morley equalize the score at three goals apiece. Ford then added her name to the long list of goal scorers with her unassisted effort with 19:55 to go.
Breheny equalized again for the Colonials, but the Hoyas regained the lead by scoring twice, the goals coming in from Ford off a Kaestner assist and then a free-position shot by Kaestner. GW’s junior midfielder Katherine Sampson scored with 10 seconds left in the first half, cutting down Georgetown’s lead to 6-5.
Five seconds into the second half, the Colonials’ junior defender Katie Lilly helped her team level with an unassisted goal, but the Hoyas retaliated within seconds as Ford fed Kaestner. Six minutes later, Kaestner returned the favor and helped Ford record her third goal for the hat trick. GW’s Breheny recorded her own hat trick soon after, taking the score to 8-7 in favor of Georgetown.
There was a lull in play as neither side scored for the next five minutes. Then, came a downpour of goals in the last 15 minutes, as Kaestner completed her second hat trick of the game and scored three goals unassisted, while GW shared their spoils between Wunk, Sampson and Breheny.
With Breheny’s goal cutting Georgetown’s lead to 11-10, GW upped the pressure and attacked relentlessly in the Hoya half. The defense, however, answered the call, and the two clutch saves by Thomas gave Georgetown the nail-biting victory.
“The entire time, we knew we had to fight tooth and nail,” Kaestner said. “The level wasn’t where it should have been the whole game unfortunately, but we scored consistently throughout the game, which was good, and that got us the win.”
The young Hoya team, consisting of 11 freshmen and just three seniors, showed a glimpse of their potential under pressure, drawing praise from Head Coach Ricky Fried.
“The energy level has been very good,” Fried said, “and the effort has been very consistent on a day-to-day level. Now we just need to turn it around and make the play consistent because we are very young. We have a lot of new faces out there; we just have to get everybody on the same page.”
The Hoyas’ home opener will be next Saturday at 3 p.m. against Big East rival Loyola at the Multi-Sport Complex.
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