Coming into the season, Georgetown knew it would face a highly ranked and deep No. 11 James Madison team to open the 2007 campaign on Aug. 25. What the Hoyas did not know is that they would do so with a new coach of 18 days and a freshman goalie.

The Hoyas fell 7-0 to the Dukes and the next day to Appalachian State 4-3 in double-overtime.

Netminder Tiffany Kaszuba was forced to make her first collegiate start because of an injury during warm-ups to regular keeper, junior Deirdre Crovo.

At first, Georgetown (0-2) managed to stay close to James adison (2-0), holding the Dukes scoreless until midfielder senior elissa Stefaniak snatched an errant pass and fired a goal past Kaszuba in the 23rd minute.

While the seven goals were the most scored by a James Madison team since 2005, Georgetown Interim Head Coach Tiffany Marsh saw some highlights from her slew of underclassmen.

“We came out strong for the first 20 minutes, right with them,” Marsh said. “It was 0-0 for a long time. The whole weekend gave us a lot to build on. A lot of the freshmen stepped up and played really well.”

James Madison did not let up after its first score, dialing in five more goals in the next 24 minutes.

James Madison’s trio of siblings, junior midfielders Ashley, Lauren and Melissa Walls, each notched a point, with elissa and Ashley picking up goals in the barrage.

Appalachian State did not boast a national ranking or a triple threat and went blow for blow with the Hoyas through regulation. The Hoyas scored three goals just twice last year and nine of their 12 losses came by just one goal.

“Goals-wise, I’m a very offensive-minded person,” Marsh said. “You have to score to win games. It was encouraging to get that many goals in that game.”

Junior midfielder Katie Lachman scored the first goal of Georgetown’s season on Saturday when she put one past ASU sophomore keeper Denise Adams in the 18th minute.

After finishing regulation tied at three, Appalachian State prevailed in the second overtime when forward senior Ali Gradescher escaped the defense and beat Kaszuba for the sudden-death win.

In order to improve on last season’s 5-12 record, Georgetown will have to travel: They practice and play their home games at the University of Maryland in College Park for at least this season as Kehoe Field languishes in disrepair.

“The energy there is very positive. Maryland has a state-of-the-art facility and they’re being very cooperative with us playing there,” Marsh said.

Two years out of college herself, Marsh brings an air of excitement to the team after Laurie Carroll’s sudden departure as head coach over the summer.

“The players were great when we met them. They were very excited and they went into preseason with extremely positive attitudes,” she said. “The transition has been much more smooth than you’d think coming in right before preseason.”