All good things must come to an end.
So it was for the Georgetown women’s soccer season on Sunday afternoon.
With a 1-0 loss to the No. 22 Boston College Eagles, the Hoyas were eliminated from the Big East tournament, and their 2004 season came to a close.
“It was a really good game,” Georgetown Head Coach Dave Nolan said. “It was very even. They basically scored on their only shot of the game. They were only going to score on a special goal, and for them it was a very good goal.”
On Sunday the Hoyas (9-9-1, 5-5-1) came as close to advancing as possible without actually accomplishing the feat.
In the scoreless first half the Hoyas outshot the Eagles 4-2, led by captain senior midfielder Nicole DePalma. The two teams were evenly matched, and neither team could get ahead.
In the second half the two teams continued to battle, with neither squad able to capitalize. For 70 minutes the scoreboard remained blank and it was anybody’s game.
Then, in the 72nd minute, Boston College freshman forward Kia cNeill broke the deadlock.
McNeill, the younger sister of Georgetown junior forward Shara cNeill, collected a loose ball outside the 18-yard box, beat her defender and then took a hard shot from 20 yards out that sailed into the net just inside the far post. It was the Eagles’ only shot on goal in the game.
The Hoyas rallied after the score and came within inches of tying the game in the 85th minute.
Taking a free kick near the left sideline, freshman defender Karen Waskewich found captain senior forward Casey McCann in front of the net, but her shot hit the left post and deflected away from the goal, leaving Georgetown scoreless.
The Hoyas could not get another shot off in the remaining five minutes, and the Eagles advanced to the semifinals with their 1-0 win.
Statistically, the Hoyas outplayed the Eagles, taking five corner kicks to Boston College’s two and committing only 10 fouls to B.C.’s 15. In a midfield battle, Georgetown put two shots on goal, The Eagles had only one shot, the game winner.
“Our back four players played really well,” Nolan said. “We limited them to not a whole lot of shots.”
With the win the Eagles (14-5-0, 7-3-0) advance to play the No. 2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Big East semifinals. Notre Dame cruised past St. John’s 7-0 in its quarterfinal match. The Irish defeated the Eagles 1-0 in their only regular season meeting.
For the Hoyas, 2004 was a vast improvement over last year. In 2003 Georgetown was winless in conference play and failed to qualify for the postseason. This year the Hoyas closed out the regular season with four straight wins and will return eight starters in 2005, so the team, while disappointed to be done, can already look forward to next year.
“We played our best soccer at the end of the year,” Nolan said. “It takes a while to gel and we never really gelled until the end.”
In 2005 the Hoyas will lose DePalma, McCann and midfielder Elizabeth Roberti, who missed the end of the season due to an injury.
DePalma will leave Georgetown second on the single season points and goals lists, first on single season assists, first in career assists and second in career points.
McCann leaves tied for sixth in single season points, tied at seventh for singles season goals, fifth in career points and tied for sixth in career goals.
Roberti finishes her career tied for fifth in single season assists and career assists and tied for 10th in career points.
“She’s been our best player all year,” Nolan said of DePalma. “Our seniors will be hard to replace on and off the field.”