Dec. 7, 2005
Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown women's soccer team finishes the year with 12 wins, a season-best. In Dave Nolan's second year as head coach, the squad achieved several milestones. Georgetown reached the BIG EAST Championship for the third time in four years, and the first back-to-back appearance in program history. This was the first squad to win a game at the BIG EAST Championship when they shut out Syracuse, 1-0, in the first round. This shutout marked a season-high, eight, for the Hoyas. Georgetown finishes with an overall record of 12-8-1 and a 4-6-1 conference mark.
In addition to the team accomplishments, two Hoyas received individual postseason honors. Junior Chrissy Skogen (San Marino, Calif./San Marino) was named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team while senior captain Shara McNeill (Avon, Conn./Avon) earned All-BIG EAST Third Team honors. During the season, senior captain Ashley Darcy (Coral Springs, Fla./American Heritage) was named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week, announced Sept. 5. Additionally, sophomore goalkeeper Jade Higgins (Island Park, N.Y./West Hempstead) was named BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week (Sept. 19) in addition to being named to the Soccer Buzz Team of the Week (Sept. 20).
Darcy, Skogen, junior Shante Cofield (Summit, N.J./Summit) and freshman Alex Gargano (Huntington, N.Y./St. Anthony's) were all named to the 2005 All-Hoya Classic Team. In addition, Darcy, McNeill, senior captain Alexandra Hardy (Lakewood, Calif./Long Beach Poly) and sophomore Lindsey Appezzato (Davis, Calif./Davis) were named to the 2005 Delaware Blue Hen adidas Classic All-Tournament Team.
The 2005 squad left their mark in the school record books also. Higgins set the single-season shutout record with seven on the year. Skogen tied the single-season goals record with 10, set in 2002 by Jessie Beers-Altman. Higgins, Skogen and sophomore forward Sara Jordan (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) notched third place spots for single-season saves (86), points (22), and assists (7), respectively. As for career records, McNeill ends her career third on the list for career assists (17), fifth in points (55), and sixth in goals scored (19). Currently climbing the charts, Skogen is in seventh for career goals (17) and Jordan is in sixth for career assists (13). Higgins has already set the record for career shutouts (13) and is currently in third place with 152 saves. Higgins and Jordan have two years of eligibility remaining while Skogen has one.
The women's team started the season off strong with a 3-1 win over Bucknell. Jordan tallied three points by scoring an unassisted goal and assisting on the game-winning goal by sophomore Elaina Filauro (Denville, N.J/Morris Knolls). Hardy also scored an unassisted goal.
The Hoyas then hosted Villanova in the year's first BIG EAST match-up. The Hoyas were pumped up for the first conference game of the season and came out strong. Filauro scored the lone goal for the Hoyas in the 12th minute of play. The Hoyas would hold the lead until the final minute of regulation when the Wildcats evened the score at 1-1, extending the game to overtime. Both overtimes remained scoreless for a 1-1 tie for the second year in a row against the Wildcats.
After the Villanova game, the Hoyas hosted Fairleigh Dickinson. Freshman Brittany Berry (Gaithersburg, Md./Georgetown Visitation) scored her first goal as a Hoya off a feed from Hardy. The Hoyas were victorious, 1-0, and Higgins recorded her first shutout of the season. Georgetown then traveled to Baltimore, Md. to take on local foe, Loyola (Md.). Filauro scored the only goal in the 3-1 defeat, the first loss of the season for the Hoyas.
The Hoyas returned home to welcome American, Iona, and Saint Joseph's for the 2005 Hoya Classic held on the GU campus. The Hoyas hosted Iona on the first day of the tournament. The Georgetown defense, led by Darcy and sophomore Karen Waskewich (Laytonsville, Md./Academy of Holy Cross), held Iona to two shots on the day. Offensively, Skogen scored two goals for the Hoyas while McNeill scored the third on a breakaway for a 3-0 shutout, Higgins' second shutout of the year. On the second day of the tournament, Georgetown hosted Saint Joseph's. Gargano scored her first goal as a Hoya. Skogen tallied two goals on the day, including the game-winning goal in the 3-2 overtime win. Having won the tournament as the only team with two victories, four Hoyas were nominated to the 2005 All-Hoya Classic Team.
The Hoyas then hosted cross-town foe, American. Waskewich and McNeill both scored goals to secure the game and Higgins recorded five saves for the shutout, her third of the season.
On a three-game winning streak, Georgetown traveled to Newark, Del. for the 2005 Delaware Blue Hen adidas Classic. The Hoyas first played Towson. McNeill scored the first goal off a feed from Filauro while Skogen found net on a penalty kick. Hardy scored the third and final goal in the 3-0 shutout. On the final day of the tournament, Georgetown played Delaware. Hardy scored the first goal against the Blue Hens while Cofield scored her first goal as a Hoya to push the final score to 2-0. Higgins recorded her third straight shutout.
The Hoyas hit the road to return to BIG EAST play against Rutgers. A header from Hardy that snuck past the Scarlet Knights goalkeeper started the game for the Hoyas. Jordan scored off a corner kick to extend the Hoya lead to two. The Scarlet Knights put one on the board, but Berry put away the game for Georgetown with the third and final goal. The Hoyas defeated Rutgers, 3-1, and extended their winning streak to six.
The success continued as the Hoyas hosted league opponent, Seton Hall. McNeill and Berry set up Skogen to score the only goal in the 1-0 shutout over the Pirates. This was Higgins' sixth shutout of the season and Georgetown's seventh straight victory. Following the game, Georgetown traveled to St. John's for a highly anticipated BIG EAST match-up. Georgetown scored first off a penalty kick from Skogen. St. John's evened the score at one with a header minutes shy of halftime. Just past the 55 minute mark, Filauro scored the game-winning goal off a feed from Waskewich. Georgetown defeated St. John's, 2-1.
On an eight-game winning streak, the Hoyas were fired up to face BIG EAST opponent, Syracuse, on the road. A statistically even game, both teams remained scoreless extending the game to overtime. Despite Georgetown going on the offensive in the first overtime period, the game still remained scoreless extending to a second and final overtime. Just over three minutes into the second overtime period, Syracuse found the back of the net, winning the game, 1-0, and snapping the Hoya eight-game winning streak. This was Georgetown's first conference loss of the year.
The Hoyas returned home for a BIG EAST match-up with Louisville. Heavy rain poured down as the Hoyas battled the Cardinals. The Cardinals led 1-0 when a foul set up Skogen for a penalty shot to even the score. With a leveled game, Louisville scored with just over a minute left in regulation to win the game, 2-1, and granting the Hoyas their first home loss.
Coming off the frustrating loss to Louisville, the Hoyas came out strong against Cincinnati at home. The 4-0 blowout saw goals from Filauro, McNeill, and Skogen as well as an own-goal from the Bearcats. This game was also the first time freshman goalkeeper Christina Rourke (Howell, N.J./Howell) saw playing time as she replaced Higgins at 78:46. This game was the eighth shutout for the team, a single-season school record.
In the last weekend of home games, Georgetown hosted Pittsburgh and No. 18 West Virginia. Despite an aggressive offense taking 29 shots to the nine from Pittsburgh, Georgetown could not capitalize on its opportunities. A goal from McNeill put the Hoyas up, 1-0 going into the second half. However, two goals within 10 minutes solidified the Pittsburgh win, 2-1. Two days later, the Hoyas hosted West Virginia. The home field advantage did not help Georgetown as Skogen was the only one able to score a goal for the Hoyas. Georgetown fell to West Virginia, 2-1, in their last home game.
In the final weekend of BIG EAST play, Georgetown traveled to DePaul and Notre Dame. At Depaul, the Blue Demons took the lead quickly. With a 1-0 lead at the half, DePaul found net again, doubling their score. A pair of goals from Berry and Jordan evened the game at two. The Hoya celebration was short-lived as the Blue Demons returned the pair of goals winning the game, 4-2. To end the season, the Hoyas traveled to No. 6 Notre Dame. Hardy scored the lone goal in a 6-1 loss. Despite the loss, the Hoyas celebrated a berth in the BIG EAST Tournament as they finished 4-6-1 in conference play for fifth place in the BIG EAST B Division.
The first round of the BIG EAST Tournament saw a re-match at Syracuse. In similar fashion to the previous match-up the game remained statistically even. However, this time the Hoyas were victorious, 1-0, with a goal from Filauro. This was the first BIG EAST Tournament victory in program history.
After defeating Syracuse, Georgetown traveled to No. 5 Notre Dame; just one week after the Irish defeated the Hoyas, 6-1, in regular season play. Although the Hoyas played hard, Notre Dame ended the 2005 Georgetown season with a 6-0 defeat in the BIG EAST Quarterfinals.
Despite a year full of gains and losses, the Hoyas ended with 12 victories, a BIG EAST First Round victory, a few new records and an overall successful 2005 season. Georgetown will only lose three seniors to graduation - Darcy, Hardy, McNeill - and will return eight starters.
