Oct. 31, 2008

Washington, D.C. - This Sunday, the Georgetown University women's soccer team will host a BIG EAST Championship quarterfinal for the first time when they take on the Connecticut Huskies at 1 p.m. from North Kehoe Field. After finishing in the top four of the conference for the first time, the Hoyas need one win to match last season's total (14) and tie the all-time record. Proceeds from today's game will be put toward Georgetown's donation to Relay for Life, an event that helps raise money for cancer prevention research.

Earlier this week, goalkeeper Jackie DesJardin (Sunnyvale, Calif./Archbishop Mitty) and forward Samantha Baker (Long Beach, Calif./Wilson) were honored by the BIG EAST. DesJardin, the team's single-season shutout leader, was named the conference's Goalkeeper of the Week and Baker, the team's leading point scorer, earned a spot on the Weekly Honor Roll. DesJardin, classmate Caitlin Durkee (St. Paul, Minn./Como Park) and senior Stephanie Zare (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) were all named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District Women's Soccer Team for their achievements in the classroom and on the soccer field.

Georgetown has defeated UConn the past two seasons, including a 1-0 victory in Storrs, Conn., last season. Ingrid Wells' penalty kick was the decider as the Hoyas advanced to the BIG EAST Championship semifinals for the first time. After losing the first eight games in the all-time series, the Blue & Gray have defeated the Huskies the last two times the teams have met.

This is the fourth trip to the BIG EAST Championship Tournament in the last five seasons and this senior class is the all-time winningest group in Georgetown history.

The Hoyas are led offensively by junior Toni Marie Hudson's (Coral Springs, Fla./Stoneman Douglas) 10 goals, which tie her for the single-season record with former standouts Chrissy Skogen and Jessie Beers-Altman. Baker and Durkee each have 10 assists to lead GU and the single-season record is 13, held by Nicole DePalma and Wells. Baker and Hudson are also currently first and second, respectively, in points scored, while Baker is tied for the single-season record with 26.

Connecticut
Connecticut reached the NCAA Quarterfinals last season and has reached the tournament every year since its inception in 1982. They have also reached the NCAA Championship Game four times. Five UConn returnees received postseason awards from the BIG EAST last season: Elizabeth Eng, Kacey Richards, Annie Yi and Stephanie Labbe. Reigning BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year Brittany Taylor has been out for the season with an injury.

Brittany Tegeler leads the team in goals with five and Yi has scored four times. The two are also first and second on the team in points. Yi was the top goal scorer last season with seven goals and 16 points. Cory Bildstein and Melissa Busque are tied for the team lead with three helpers apiece. Labbe, the team's MVP last year, has started every game but one and has accumulated a 1.04 goals-against average and .823 save percentage. She has also recorded 22 career shutouts.

In addition to the always demanding BIG EAST schedule, UConn faced a challenging non-conference schedule featuring three of the four teams that made the College Cup last year: Florida State, UCLA and Notre Dame.