Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Butler women's soccer team ended their 2016 campaign with a 4-0 loss at Georgetown in the 2016 BIG EAST Championship Tournament. The result from the first quarterfinal match of the day moved Butler's record to 11-7-2.
 
Butler entered tournament play as the No. 6 seed and therefore were forced to travel to Shaw Field to take on the No. 3 seed Hoyas. With the win, Georgetown moved their overall record to 15-2-2, a mark that has them ranked No. 10 in the nation. They will move forward to face DePaul in the semifinals on Friday.

"Georgetown is a very good team and I expect they will go far in the NCAA Tournament," Co-Head Coach Tari St. John said after the match. "With that said, I thought we gave ourselves a chance at a result today. The team fought hard and adhered to the game plan."
 
The Tuesday matinee didn't include Butler midfielder Serina Kashimoto who was unable to suit up after suffering an injury in the regular season finale at Xavier. With Kashimoto out of the equation, the Hoyas went into full attack mode, winning the first half shot total 12-0.
 
The Hoyas broke the scoreless tie at the 14:04 mark in the first half. BIG EAST Freshman of the Year Amanda Carolan scored a header goal off a double assist from Grace Damaska and Rachel Corboz. The scoring play started with a corner kick that featured BU goalkeeper Hannah Luedtke getting tripped up and going to the ground. The ball was sent back into the middle of the field where Carolan would come up with her eighth goal of the season.
 
The first half would come to an end with Georgetown leading 1-0. Luedtke kept the Bulldogs in the game by making six saves in the opening 45 minutes of action. The Hoyas pressure resulted in seven corner kicks and seven shots on goal, keeping Luedtke and the rest of the Bulldog defense very active.
 
The first Georgetown goal in the second half was unique in that goalkeeper Arielle Schechtman was credited with an assist. Butler made a run offensively and tried to feed the ball up to Halle Stelbasky to knot the score at 1-1. Stelbasky was taken to the turf, but no foul was called and the ball would end up with Schechtman. Realizing the Bulldogs were outnumbered, Schechtman boomed a ball into BU territory that would end up at the feet of Carolan who made the game 2-0 with her second goal of the contest. Carolan fired her shot from the right side of the field, beating Luedtke to the left side.

"We were a bit unfortunate with the questionable goal to start the game and I thought we were deserving of a foul in the box seconds before their second goal," St. John added. "That was a defining moment."
 
The Hoyas would put the game away with two quick strikes near the tail end of the contest with Carson Nizialek scoring her second goal of the year off a pass from Caitlin Farrell and Crystal Thomas going unassisted for her 10th goal of the season two minutes later at the 76:13 mark.

"I speak for Rob and I when I say this group of young women have been an absolute pleasure to work with this season," St. John stated. "This senior class was undoubtedly a catalyst for the many successes we have had during their time and in the future. Making the BIG EAST Tournament is no easy feat and this group of seniors led us to our first three appearances. We are very proud of them and their accomplishments on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. They are an inspiration to our current and future Bulldogs."
 
The Bulldogs will lose two starters to graduation in McKenzie Muchow and 2015 Second Team All-American Serina Kashimoto. Kashimoto had played in every game for Butler during her outstanding four-year career. The contest also broke a streak of 81 consecutive games of Kashimoto appearing in the BU starting lineup.
 
Highlighting the group of returners for 2017 will be Second Team All-BIG EAST selection Shannon McDevitt and BIG EAST All-Freshman Team members Kyra Cooke and Hannah Luedtke.