WASHINGTON – The No. 24 Georgetown University women's lacrosse squad managed a big 18-4 victory over the Old Dominion University Monarchs on Saturday afternoon at Cooper Field in the squad's home finale.  Georgetown used some big runs to improve to 9-7 overall and 3-1 in BIG EAST play.  The win also earned the Blue & Gray a BIG EAST Championship berth making Georgetown the only team in the league to participate in all 13 championships since it began in 2007.
 
"We played well today, everyone had an opportunity to play but next week we need to make sure we're pushing each other in practice on a daily basis to improve, focus on the Marquette game and lead us into BIG EAST," said Georgetown Head Coach Ricky Fried.  "Today we earned the right to play in the BIG EAST Championship which is a big deal because that is our avenue to NCAAs, but if we don't improve it will be short lived so we have to come in and work hard every day."
 
Seniors led the way as midfielder Francesca Whitehurst (Baltimore, Md. / Roland Park Country School) had four goals and three assists for seven points on the afternoon to go along with three draw controls.  Attacker Taylor Gebhardt (Baldwinsville, N.Y. / C.W. Baker) managed four goals and an assist, while attacker Morgan Ryan (Maplewood, N.J. / Oak Knoll School) had four goals in the contest along with four draw controls. 
 
Junior attacker Michaela Bruno (Garden City, N.Y. / Garden City) posted a goal and three assists, while junior Liza Liotta (Baltimore, Md. / St. Paul's School for Girls) had a goal and two assists and both Emily Ehle (Baldwinsville, N.Y. / Christian Brothers Academy) and Mary Pagano (Short Hills, N.J. / Pingry School) added a goal and an assist apiece.
 
The Hoyas outshot the Monarchs 42-11 and pulled in 17 draw controls to ODU's six as freshman midfielder Jordyn Sabourin (Catonsville, Md. / Notre Dame Prep) tallied a team-best five.  Georgetown forced 19 Monarch turnovers while committing just 14.  Leading the way on defense was junior Noelle Peragine (Northport, N.Y. / Northport) with three.  Senior goalkeeper Haelle Chomo (Naples, Fla. / Barron Collier) took the win in the cage with three saves in the game.
 
Following a defensive battle early on, Ryan opened the scoring at 24:37 as she took the pass from fellow senior Mariah Matheis (Darien, Conn. / Darien).  It was followed by two quick ones by Whitehurst and freshman attacker Ali Diamond (Lafayette Hill, Pa. / Plymouth-Whitemarsh) to put the Hoyas ahead by three.  The Monarchs answered at 19:49, but Georgetown came back with Gebhardt's first of the game.
 
The Gebhardt goal sparked a 4-1 run for the Blue & Gray as the senior sandwiched a Ryan goal, both of which were assisted by Whitehurst.  Liotta scored at 15:09 as the Hoyas were rolling 7-1.
 
ODU scored its final goal of the first half at 12:54 and, following eight scoreless minutes for both squads, GU rattled off a 4-0 run in the final five minutes of action.  Gebhardt started it out at 4:48 with an unassisted goal from the middle of the crease.  Whitehurst and Bruno followed with back-to-back free position goals.  Whitehurst closed out the half with 14 seconds remaining on the pass from Gebhardt to make it 11-2 at the break.
 
Just seconds into the second half, it was Whitehurst who connected on a free position shot.  Ehle added one more before ODU would find the back of the cage at 21:45.
 
Ryan's acrobatic goal from Pagano would spark a 3-0 run as Gebhardt added a score from freshman Annabelle Zebrowski (Verona, N.J. / Oak Knoll) and then Pagano managed one of her own on the assist from Liotta.
 
ODU's final goal of the afternoon would come at 12:39 as the coaching staff began to shift the lineup with different looks heading out onto the field.  Ryan tallied her fourth of the game on a free position shot at 5:34, and senior Liliana Brown (Darien, Conn. / Deerfield Academy) scored her first-career goal on Senior Day taking the pass from classmate Whitehurst to close out the game with under a minute to play and making the final 18-4.
 
Georgetown will close out regular season play on Saturday as the squad travels to Marquette University for a 3 p.m. ET matchup with the Golden Eagles.  The game will be broadcast live on the BIG EAST Digital Network (BEDN) Live stats will be available at www.GUHoyas.com. 
 
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