Georgetown Head Coach Dave Nolan said he wanted as much momentum heading into the Big East schedule as possible. It looks like he’ll get his wish, as the Hoyas streamrolled their two opponents this weekend by a combined score of 8-2.
The Hoyas trounced St. Joseph’s (2-2) 5-1 on Friday, and followed that with a 3-1 victory over Delaware (3-2) on Sunday afternoon. The team improved to 7-1 on the season with the two victories.
The Hoyas will open their Big East schedule on Friday against Villanova.
“It’s great to have confidence heading into the Big East because it is such a tough league and anyone can win on any given day,” senior midfielder Sara Jordan said. Jordan scored a goal in each of the two games.
Playing its third game in five days, Georgetown started against St. Joe’s with a slow and sloppy first half, leaving the Blue and Gray in a scoreless tie at halftime despite controlling possession for most of the half. After regrouping during halftime, the team came out with a spark in the second half, scoring five goals in a 20-minute display of offensive firepower that was led by sophomore forward Toni Marie Hudson and her two scores.
Georgetown has had no shortage of offense this season, scoring 19 goals in eight games thus far, compared to 18 goals in all 20 games last season.
Jordan opened up the scoring in the 52nd minute when she dribbled to the top of the penalty area and pulled her best David Beckham impression, arching a shot past freshman keeper Megan Bastianelli into the left side of the net. Three minutes later, Hudson tallied her first goal of the day when she headed in a cross from senior defender Vanessa Joyce.
The offensive outburst continued in the 66th minute when freshman midfielder Ingrid Wells found the back of the net from the top of the penalty area to put the Hoyas up 3-0. Nine minutes later, Hudson found the goal again on a blast from well outside the area that brought the home crowd to its feet.
“The goal keeper gave me the whole far post and I just took the shot,” the sophomore said of her second goal. “Sometimes you have to catch the goalkeeper off guard.”
Freshman forward Caitlin Durkee finished off the Georgetown scoring with another long goal from 25 feet out, her second of the year.
The Hawks lone goal of the day came in the 86th minute on a Sarah O’Malley header off of a corner kick.
After disposing of St. Joe’s, the Hoyas looked ahead to Delaware, who entered the match with only one loss, to nationally-ranked Virginia. Nolan expected a close physical game and was dead on.
Jordan set the tone for the offense from the very beginning of the game. She had two shots on goal in the first 10 minutes, including one that just missed off of the crossbar.
In the 11th minute, senior defender Karen Waskewich sent a free kick towards the penalty area which was received by freshman defender Michaela Buonomo, who sent the ball past freshman goalkeeper E.J. Goldman to put the Hoyas up 1-0.
“We saw them in the spring, so we knew coming in they would be a good team and a tough team,” Delaware Head Coach Scott Grzenda said after the loss.
Georgetown had six shots on goal in the first half, compared to Delaware’s three, but in the 38th minute Delaware made one of those three shots count. After receiving a pass from junior defender Lisa Parsons, freshman forward Amy Pickard was able to elude a Georgetown defender and slip a shot pass freshman goalkeeper Jackie DesJardin to tie the game 1-1, where it remained until halftime.
The second half started, much like the first half, with the Hoyas offense on the attack, but in the first 15 minutes of the half Georgetown had nothing to show for it. Similar to the first half, numerous Jordan opportunities were denied by the Delaware defense, but the senior did not get discouraged.
“I knew I was going to get more chances, and if I put my head down I may miss another [chance],” she said. “So it made me hungrier for a goal.”
Jordan fed her appetite when she found the back of the net in the 61st minute to put the Hoyas up 2-1. She received a pass from Wells, dribbled from right to left and hooked a shot from the top of the penalty area into the top right corner of the goal.
Down 2-1, the Blue Hens tired to rally back, but time and time again the Georgetown defense denied them. After receiving a nice pass, Delaware sophomore forward Caitlyn Germain was unable to get past Georgetown defenders Joyce and junior Alex Gargano. After a corner kick and a free kick by Germain were denied by DesJardin, who had four saves in the game, Georgetown sent a long clear in the 77th minute that was received by freshman forward Daryn Towle. Towle got by two defenders and beat Goldman to give the Hoyas a 3-1 lead.
“It was good preparation for the Big East,” Jordan said. “The Big East is a really physical conference and this could have been a Big East game. It was good to play a game like this before next weekend.”
