WASHINGTON – The top-seeded Georgetown women's soccer team shut out the No. 2-seeded Baylor Bears 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at Shaw Field. The Hoyas made history on the rainy Hilltop, earning their ticket to the College Cup for the second time in three years. With the win, GU advances to 21-0-3, the most wins in program history, while the Bears finished the season 20-6-0.
The Hoyas will travel to Cary, North Carolina on Nov. 30 to play the winner between North Carolina and UCLA.
"This was an exceptional performance by the girls today," said Georgetown Head Coach
Dave Nolan. "The results and the performance were very good. Sometimes you only get one or the other, and I thought we got both today. The team is really excited to be going back to the College Cup for the second time in three years. It's an incredible achievement for our program and these girls. They're excited to go and continue to make more noise."
The Blue & Gray advanced to the College Cup during the 2016 season, but fell in the semifinals to eventual champions USC 1-0. This is the second time in program history that the Hoyas reached the College Cup.
An early goal from sophomore
Kelly Ann Livingstone (Glen Ridge, N.J. / Glen Ridge) opened up the scoring for the Hoyas, it was second goal of the season. Graduate student
Kyra Carusa (San Diego, Calif. / Del Norte / Stanford) tallied her 10th goal in the second half and recorded another point from an assist to junior
Paula Germino-Watnick (Chevy Chase, Md. / Bethesda-Chevy Chase) in the 76th minute to lead to a GU victory.
The Hoyas took control of the game in the first half, outshooting Baylor 15-0. Georgetown had several opportunities in the first few minutes to take an early lead. Carusa fired a shot in the first minute, but it was deflected by BU goalkeeper Jennifer Wandt. In the third minute, senior
Caitlin Farrell (Wallingford, Conn. / Choate Rosemary Hall) and junior
Meaghan Nally (Herndon, Va. / South Lakes) took a total of three shots but Wandt was quick on her feet to deny them.
In the eighth minute, junior
Grace Nguyen (Lilburn, Ga. / Parkview) took a corner kick on the left side, which flew into a sea of players. Carusa was able to get her head on it to set it up for Livingstone, who buried it past Wandt to put GU on the board 1-0.
The closest chance the Bears had to scoring occurred in the last three minutes of the half, but Livingstone's quick defense denied their opportunity as the Blue & Gray kept the lead at the half.
Georgetown maintained its rhythm from the first half into the second, as well as the possession for the majority of it. Five minutes into the second, the Hoyas converted another goal off of a corner kick taken by Nguyen. This time, it was Nally who set up the opportunity for Carusa inside the box, who headed it into the back of the net to give GU a 2-0 advantage.
Nally had a chance to score off of another corner kick in the 62nd minute, but as Wandt stepped out of the box to try and stop her shot, a Baylor defender covered for her in the net to block the junior defender's shot from entering. In the 76th minute, Carusa looked for her second-straight goal, but Wandt deflected the shot and Germino-Watnick buried a shot off the rebound to finish off the scoring for the Hoyas 3-0.
Georgetown held off the Bears from scoring in the final 15 minutes, recording the team's 15th clean sheet this season. Senior goalkeeper
Arielle Schechtman (Del Mar, Calif. / La Jolla Country Day / UCLA) is now tied for second at Georgetown with 15 shutouts in a single season. She broke the record in 2016 with 15 clean sheets and holds the record with 17 from last season.
The Blue & Gray outshot the Bears 24-6, with all six of BU's shots occurring in the second half. The Hoyas also had a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks. Additionally, Wandt recorded eight saves, while Schechtman tallied four.
The Hoyas advance to play the winner between North Carolina and UCLA. The semifinals will be held on Friday, Nov. 30 in Cary, North Carolina at WakeMed Soccer Park. The game will be shown live on ESPNU.
