WASHINGTON – The top-seeded Georgetown women's soccer team defeated No. 4-seeded Duke 4-1 on Sunday at Shaw Field in the third round of the NCAA Tournament. The Hoyas will host the winner of the Virginia-Baylor match on Saturday, Nov. 24 at Shaw Field at noon. With the win, GU improves to 20-0-3 overall, while the Blue Devils finished their season 16-4-2.
Junior
Paula Germino-Watnick (Chevy Chase, Md. / Bethesda-Chevy Chase) led the Hoyas with five points off of a pair of goals and an assist. Graduate student
Kyra Carusa (San Diego, Calif. / Del Norte / Stanford) contributed three points from a goal and a helper. Senior
Caitlin Farrell (Wallingford, Conn. / Choate Rosemary Hall) tallied her 18th goal of the season, tying for first with the most goals in program history at Georgetown, and junior
Grace Nguyen (Lilburn, Ga. / Parkview) recorded an assist.
The Blue & Gray controlled the game from the very beginning when Germino-Watnick almost opened up the scoring two minutes into play, but her shot deflected off of the hands of Duke goalkeeper Brooke Heinsohn. While the Blue Devils created many opportunities to score, senior goalkeeper
Arielle Schechtman (Del Mar, Calif. / La Jolla Country Day / UCLA) was quick on her feet to deny any shots from passing her.
In the 15th minute, Germino-Watnick battled a Duke defender in the left corner, but was able to connect with Farrell at the top of the box. Farrell blasted a shot over a sea of Blue Devils and found the back of the net to put GU in the scoring column 1-0.
Duke had a few opportunities toward the end of the first half to find its equalizer, but a pressuring Hoya defense and Schechtman managed to keep the Hoyas on top 1-0 before entering the second half.
In the 55th minute, the Blue Devils managed to get by the Blue & Gray as Delaney Graham buried a shot past Schechtman to tie the score 1-1. Just five minutes later, the Hoyas responded with another goal. Nguyen sought out Carusa at the top of the box, who then fired a shot over Heinsohn's head in the net to put GU up 2-1.
Georgetown was on a roll from there on out, particularly Germino-Watnick, who topped off the score with a pair of goals. The junior forward scored the third one in the 72nd minute as she dribbled the ball down the center of the field and fired an insurance goal to improve the Hoyas to 3-1. Germino-Watnick finished it off in the 78th minute after Farrell unselfishly passed the ball to Carusa inside the box. Carusa's shot was deflected by Heinsohn, but Germino-Watnick was there for the rebound and put it back in the net, making the final score 4-1.
The Blue & Gray outshot the Blue Devils 19-5, allowing them just one shot in the first half. Georgetown also had an 8-5 advantage in corner kicks. Additionally, Heinsohn recorded five saves while Schechtman had two.
This will be Georgetown's third appearance in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, which all have occurred in the past eight years. The Hoyas will host the winner of the match between No. 3 seeded Virginia and No. 2 seeded Baylor on Saturday at noon.
Tickets for Saturday's match are available at WeAreGeorgetown.com/tickets.