For the first time in four seasons, Central Connecticut’s women’s soccer team took part in an NCAA Women’s Soccer Cup game when they traveled to number one seed Georgetown on Saturday. It seemed for the first half that the Blue Devils had a chance to pull off an upset for the ages before falling to the Hoyas by a score of 3-1.

The Blue Devils struck first in minute 19 when freshman midfielder, Roma McLaughlin took the ball upfield and found senior forward, Danielle Pearse, who put it past Hoya goalkeeper, Arielle Schechtman. Hoyas defenders contested Pearse was offsides, but the referees did not agree and the goal stood, giving the Blue Devils an early 1-0 lead.

The goal was the fourth for Pearse in three postseason games. She scored two in the Northeast Conference semifinal against Fairleigh Dickinson, as well as one in the finals against Saint Francis (PA), leading to her being named Tournament Most Valuable Player.

“It’s easy to say it’s a tap-in,” head coach Mick D’Arcy said of Pearse. “But that’s experience to be in the right place at the right time. She’s had a great end to the season. She has that sense to know where to be.”

Though the Hoyas had their chances in the first half, they were either thwarted by the strong play of the Blue Devils’ backline, led by NEC Defender of the Year Shauny Alterisio and first-team All-NEC player Emily Hogan, or were unable to get a shot past senior goalkeeper Ashley Cavanaugh.

Numbers-wise, the first half was evenly matched. Both teams took three shots. Cavanaugh made two saves, while Schechtman did not have to make any, as the only Blue Devil shot that went on goal was Pearse’s goal.

It appeared the Blue Devils had a shot to knock off the number one seed for a historic upset.

“We went down there to win. There was no thought of showing up and keeping the game a respectable score,” D’Arcy said. “We went in there with a legitimate chance to win and I think with 20 minutes left, we did.”

The Hoyas came out firing in the second half, with eight corner kicks and two shots in the first 15 minutes. Despite this, the Blue Devils remained ahead by a goal, just over 20 minutes away from pulling off the upset.

But things changed quickly and drastically, as Hoya midfielder Paula Germino-Watnick scored from the middle of the box, tying the score. Germino-Watnick was a crucial part of Georgetown’s attack all game, notching three shots on goal, including the equalizer.

Just eight minutes later, Amanda Carolan gathered the ball off a deflection and beat Cavanaugh, giving the Hoyas the lead with just 13 minutes remaining.

In the 80th minute, Hoya forward Kyra Carusa faced off with Cavanaugh for a penalty kick. Though her initial shot hit the crossbar, she gathered the ball and put it past Cavanaugh, extending her team’s lead to two.

D’Arcy felt that Hoyas should have been called offsides on two of the three goals.

“The player who took the penalty put it in the back of the net, which means she touched the ball twice so she should have been ruled offside. All our players thought it was going to be a free out because that’s the rule,” D’Arcy said.

The loss was the first for the Blue Devils since their Aug. 23 contest against Connecticut, leaving them with a final overall record of 16-2-2.

D’Arcy said he was very proud of the team and they even learned the last lesson they were looking to accomplish on the season: “leave the place better than you found it.”

“This year, for our seven seniors and everyone else on the team, they certainly left the program in a better place they found it,” D’Arcy said.