Stephanie Navarro/The Hoya The Hoyas loss to UC-Berkeley dropped their record so far in 2002 to 3-4.
This past week, Georgetown field hockey found itself matched up against Towson University on Tuesday and UC-Berkeley on Thursday. The Hoyas’ opponents, with a combined 11-2 on the young season, would prove formidable challenges as Georgetown looked to extend their two-game winning streak.
The week began well with the Hoyas defeating the Tigers 5-2. But the second half of the week would not be as kind to the Hoyas, as they fell to the Golden Bears 3-2 in overtime.
A sunny, 79-degree Tuesday afternoon proved an idyllic setting for the showdown with Towson on North Kehoe Field. After starting the season 0-3, the Hoyas managed to climb back to .500 after downing the Tigers.
Head Coach Laurie Carroll anticipated a hard-fought game from the start. “We expected this kind of [back-and-forth] game,” she said. “We knew that [Towson defender Heatherann Schwartz] was crucial to their ability to move the ball, and we wanted to take some risks in the offensive third of the field and work our passing game up the side.”
In executing the plan to perfection, the Hoyas managed to win handily, despite relying on overtime to beat Towson 3-2 in 2001.
Paced by the duo of freshman forward Jessica Quinn (two goals in the game) and junior midfielder Shelby Samperton (one goal, one assist), Georgetown held a commanding 3-0 lead at halftime despite Towson’s distinct advantage in possession time. As the defense continued to stymie the Tigers’ offense, even a few counterattacks were achieved.
One of these charges found its way onto the capable stick of Quinn who, starting at midfield, beat five defenders on her way to scoring an unassisted goal – her second of the half. Earlier in the half, senior Lauren Galbally had scored the team’s second goal off a penalty shot.
As the second half started, however, Towson’s edge in corners – 14 for the game, compared to Georgetown’s two – proved too much, even for standout senior goaltender Jessica Herring. Towson tallied their first score off a crossing pass, followed shortly by another goal off a penalty corner.
But junior midfielder Leanne Rizzo and junior forward Beth Gagnon continued to push the ball effectively up the right side, creating more offensive chances for Samperton and Quinn. Several seconds later, Towson junior goalkeeper Loren Wolf was unable to corral Samperton’s free hit, and Rizzo buried the rebound to increase the Hoyas’ lead to 4-2.
After the blistering pace resumed for six more minutes, Samperton flashed some fancy stick work to beat a Towson defender and scored the final goal of the game.
“We really had a lot of confidence today,” Samperton said. “We moved the ball up the sides, we played smart and we went out like we had nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
Herring, who had eight saves in the game, agreed. “Our defense had to keep organized, but we won all the 50-50 battles and played great recovery defense. After they scored the two goals, the defense re-focused and had the confidence to counter and keep finding opportunities. I think that’s the best offense we’ve played all year.”
Two days later, as the dreary skies opened and rain drenched the turf, Georgetown found itself unable to keep their three-game win streak alive against No. 14 California. The loss dropped the Hoyas to 3-4 in 2002.
Berkeley opened the scoring at 25:07 of the first half, although Quinn tied the game only five seconds later with her seventh goal of the year. The game remained tied 1-1 at the half, but the rain continued to pour, and the soggy turf began to bog down both offenses.
When Georgetown fell behind once again less than two minutes into the second period, it appeared as though the Golden Bears were about to take control. But the Hoyas’ defense remained poised and continued to push the ball up as they had against Towson. Their effective ball movement led to another scoring chance, but Quinn’s shot sailed right just wide of the cage with 22:00 remaining.
But the freshman sensation was not to be denied, and she scored again – giving her two consecutive two-goal games – to tie the game at 2-2. The final six minutes saw a number of chances for both teams, although the game remained deadlocked at the final whistle.
The Golden Bears finally took charge two minutes into the first overtime period, and junior midfielder Nora Fedderson buried a shot for the deciding tally.
Carroll, though unhappy with the result, was decidedly happy with the play of her squad. “We repeated our performance of Tuesday, and we haven’t played two good games back-to-back like that this year. We gave up too many corners, but we played great corner defense. We got a lot of opportunities, we were just unlucky. The effort was there.”
Carroll said she expects a similar effort from her team when they face the Indiana Hoosiers this Saturday.
“They are very well-coached and very organized. We’re going to have to approach them the same way we went in against Towson and against Cal. At this point in the season, we’re not evaluating ourselves by our record – we’re taking it one game at a time and looking at ourselves by how we’ve performed lately. We’re thrilled with where we’re at right now.”
