DePaul University Athletics
Blue Demons Brace for Battle of Georgetown
10/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | WOMEN'S SOCCER
Oct. 21, 2010
CHICAGO - This isn't exactly winner-take-all, but it's pretty close.
DePaul and Georgetown square off at 1:30 p.m. Friday in our Nation's Capital with the winner likely to come away with the No. 2 seed in the BIG EAST Conference tournament and an opportunity to host a quarterfinal game.
"The game with Georgetown is huge," said DePaul midfielder Callie Hemming. "It's great that we have qualified for the BIG EAST tournament, but we've set higher goals than that.
"If we can finish second in the National Division, it would be a great accomplishment for our program."
It was against Georgetown last year that Hemming scored the golden goal in double overtime for the 2-1 victory which clinched DePaul's first BIG EAST playoff berth.
"We have a good rivalry against Georgetown, and it's always going to be a competitive game," Hemming said. "We're both fighting for points and home-field advantage in the playoffs.
"Playing at home in the postseason is such a huge advantage. Other teams hate to play at Wish Field at Cacciatore Stadium because it's compacted.
"We've worked hard to build a good record (8-2-1) at home."
Georgetown (12-5-0, 6-3-0 in the BIG EAST) opened the season with a seven-game winning streak and has won three of its last four games.
The Hoyas have outscored teams 40-14, outshot them 246-129 and have a 115-48 advantage in shots on goal. They are 6-1-0 at North Kehoe Field.
Ingrid Wells has seven goals and a league-leading 10 assists while Camille Trujillo has nine goals and two assists. Kaitlin Brenn has contributed six goals and one assist.
"Georgetown is a very good team, and we know they have set some high goals for their program," said DePaul coach Erin Chastain. "They want to get a home playoff game, go deep into the BIG EAST tournament and make the NCAA tournament.
"Everyone is excited about the Georgetown game. It's head-to-head, and we know it's a big game for a lot of reasons."
DePaul (10-6-2, 5-4-0) has 15 points, three shy of the Hoyas. A win on Friday would deadlock the BIG EAST qualifiers with the head-to-head tiebreaker going to the Blue Demons.
On Sunday, DePaul plays at Villanova (6-11-0, 1-8-0), which has lost six in a row heading into Friday's match against No. 4/5 Notre Dame (14-1-1, 8-0-1).
Georgetown closes out the regular season against Notre Dame.
Last weekend, DePaul had its five-game winning streak snapped after road losses to Providence and Connecticut.
"We learned from the Providence game that our team has to be ready from the opening whistle," Chastain said. "We played well at Connecticut, but missed chances to capitalize on offense.
"There were a couple of defensive breakdowns, and a good team like Connecticut will make you pay for those.
"It's a learning curve for our freshmen, the first full weekend on the road in the BIG EAST and playing at a high level.
"They will be ready on Friday."
