WASHINGTON – The Georgetown University women's soccer team earned a convincing 4-1 victory over Fordham on Thursday evening in the season opener. With the win, GU moves to 1-0-0 and the Rams start the season 0-0-1.
Head Coach Dave Nolan
"The 1st game of the season is always a hard game. We didn't know a whole lot about them. We're still trying to figure ourselves out, figure out our identity. First off, we were a little bit nervous, a little bit edgy. We tended to be close to a lot of situations, but never quite got it over the line. But we had the edge. Then the second half, it was a matter of letting the game settle down a little bit. They got a little bit tired. Then we started to see some quality from our quality players, in particular, Lizzy, Abby, and Caroline. You know, so for us to start getting success, we need our two wingers, and we need our attacking midfielder to drive us forward and I thought all three girls in particular were excellent. The only blemish on the game was the goal. We gave up a soft goal, which is not something I'm happy about. We need to look at that and explain to the kids what we can do better to make sure that doesn't happen again. But first game, we pretty much got all our field players onto the field, which was nice and now we got to turn around and get ready for a tough weekend out on the West Coast next week, and hopefully we can get a couple of results out there."
About the Match
- Georgetown created the first opportunity of the match when Caroline Spengler beat a Rams defender and sent a cross toward the top of the box, where Jamie Covitz's shot sailed just over the crossbar to keep the match scoreless.
- The Hoyas continued to press forward throughout the opening half but were unable to break through and find the back of the net.
- Georgetown continued to apply pressure, registering a pair of shots on target but could not capitalize as the teams entered halftime scoreless.
- Following a successful challenge from the Hoya coaching staff, Lizzie Heller broke the deadlock, converting from the penalty spot to give Georgetown a 1-0 lead.
- Just five minutes later, Abby Droner danced through the Rams' defense before delivering a perfect cross to Heller, who headed home her second goal of the match to double the Hoya lead.
- The Hoyas continued their offensive surge as Droner found the bottom corner to extend Georgetown's lead, marking three goals in a 10-minute span for the Hoya offense.
- Droner continued her standout performance, scoring her second goal of the match off an excellent feed from Spengler to push Georgetown's advantage to 4-0.
- The Rams responded just two minutes later, cutting the deficit to three with 10 minutes remaining in the match.
- At the final whistle the Hoyas had the win at 4-1
Notable Stats
- Droner tallied two goals and an assist
- Heller netted her first two goals of the season
- Spengler earned a pair of assists to start the campaign
WHAT LIES AHEAD
The Blue & Gray will return to action on Thursday, August 20 as GU travels to the west coast to take on No. 1 Stanford. Kickoff from Laird Q. Cagan Stadium is slated for 7 p.m. ET and a link to live stats will be available on GUHoyas.com.
