WOMEN’S SOCCER Hoyas Bested By Knights By Eric Kim Hoya Staff Writer
Dan Gelfand/The Hoya Senior forward Kelly Piatenesi couldn’t get past Rutgers.
After giving up three goals in the first half, the Georgetown women’s soccer team came up just short of the comeback, falling 3-2 in a thriller against Mid-Atlantic divisional rival Rutgers.
The Hoyas had several great chances in the closing minutes, keeping the Harbin Field crowd on the edge of their seats. Freshman Lauren Eyler and sophomore Jen Choiniere scored goals for Georgetown.
“This loss is going to put us into an emotional hangover,” Head Coach Diane Drake said. “We definitely won the second half, but we had too little, too late.”
Coming off a weak first half, the Hoyas looked like a totally different team after halftime as they put offensive pressure on the Scarlet Knights. Within the first two minutes of the half, Georgetown had two scoring chances. In one of them, freshman midfielder Liz Roberti launched a rocket to the top right corner of the goal that was just barely tipped by Rutgers goalie Christine Caldwell.
The Hoyas finally got on the board at the 56th minute. Minutes after subbing into the game, freshman forward Lauren Eyler made her presence felt with her second goal of the year. After receiving a nice touch pass from junior forward Karin Ostrander, Eyler raced up on the left side and lifted the ball with her left foot over the Rutgers goalie for the score.
“Eyler getting us on the board was real key,” Drake said.
Eyler’s goal inspired the Georgetown offense, as it did not relent and continued to push the ball up the field. With 21 minutes left in the game, Roberti served up a direct kick which freshman midfielder Nicole DePalma headed wide right of the goal.
At the 75-minute mark, DePalma made up for her missed opportunity by setting up Georgetown’s second goal of the game. Sophomore midfielder Jen Choiniere took a DePalma cross pass and delivered it into the net for her second goal in as many games.
With 15 minutes left in the game and the momentum on their side, the Hoyas took advantage of the emotion. The Georgetown half of the field saw little action as the Hoyas kept the ball locked within their opponents’ side.
Georgetown came with everything it had and almost capitalized on its chances. Roberti fired a shot just above the crossbar with 13 minutes left. Sophomore forward Courtney Shaub missed wide left on a great scoring chance at the 83rd minute. The Hoyas’ last decent opportunity came with 1:15 left in the game as DePalma just missed the goal off a direct kick. Time ran out, as did the Hoyas’ chances of pulling even with the Scarlet Knights.
The Hoyas came out flat in the first half, letting the Scarlet Knights quickly get on top. Rutgers leading scorer Keri Lages got her sixth goal of the season in the 3rd minute of the game, dribbling past Georgetown senior goalkeeper Shereena Chang for the tap-in.
The Scarlet Knights showed some impressive offensive skills in getting their second goal; using smooth passes to move up the field, swarming Chang. Though Chang deflected the first shot, Adrienne Dugandzic got the rebound and tapped it in for her first of two goals.
Senior midfielder Alyson Smith set up Georgetown’s first scoring chance of the game in the 16th minute. Smith grounded a cross pass across the goal box just out of the reach of a diving Ostrander.
Dugandzic struck again at the 27-minute mark with a shot that went just over Chang’s head and into the net for a three-point lead.
It wasn’t until the 28th minute that the Hoyas got their first official shot attempt on goal. But Georgetown showed signs of life at the 34th minute with two great opportunities in the same possession. Senior midfielder Kelly Piatanesi got it started with a nice cross pass, which Shaub shot off the side bar. Off the deflection, Roberti fired a shot just above the goal.
“We definitely came out slow in the first half,” junior defender Liza Yanuzzi said. “But the second half says a lot for the strength of our team.”
The Hoyas were outshot 16 to 13; nine of Georgetown’s shots came in the second half. Georgetown received solid play from rookies DePalma, Eyler and Robert, who all were heavily involved in Georgetown’s scoring opportunities.
With the loss, the Hoyas are 5-4 overall and 1-3 in Big East competition.
Georgetown will have a week to rest before it faces off against James Madison at Harbin Field Oct. 7.
Team Schedules/Rosters 2001 Women’s Soccer Schedule | Roster
