WASHINGTON – Villanova held No. 12 Georgetown scoreless through the opening half of play but fell 1-0 on Wednesday night at Shaw Field.

Despite the loss, Villanova (9-7, 4-4) is the first BIG EAST side to hold Georgetown (13-2-2, 9-0 BIG EAST) without a first half goal since UConn in last year's BIG EAST Championship semifinals. The last time that happened to Georgetown in the regular season was Oct. 13, 2024 against DePaul.

Villanova was outshot 37-7 in the loss, 16-2 for shots on frame. Senior goalkeeper Hannah Dickinson had a career night between the posts, grabbing 15 saves to reset her previous career high of 11 that was set in 2024. Aside from the Seattle, Wash. native, the last Wildcat goalkeeper to have double-digit saves was Ela Kopec, making 13 saves against UConn in 2021.

"Georgetown is a really talented attacking team," head coach Samar Azem said. "They have a very defined identity and we're maturing in that, in our own and we talked a lot about that. We talked a lot about that. We talked about our identity and how to mature, you gotta really push yourself outside your comfort zone and this team did that today. I thought the first half was fantastic and then coming into the second half, I was wondering how the team would show up and they showed up even better."

The Hoyas picked up back-to-back corners in the seventh minute that brought the first scoring chance of the evening. The ball sailed into the 18-yard and found the foot of Kaya Hanson near the left post. The ball came back toward the center of the net where Hannah Dickinson met it with an open hand to push it back into play with a save.

Gabby Koluch had a rocket of an attempt from outside the penalty area in the 18^th minute that went just high of the net.

By the 29^th minute, Dickinson was already up to four saves. She made three saves in a span of two and a half minutes, including a one-on-one stop of a dangerous sprinting chance from Maja Lardner.

Villanova's next shot attempt was another launch at the top of the box, this time from Avrie Nelsen. She was able to get away from a trio of Hoyas to make her shot that went just over the net, as well.

Georgetown had a 17-2 shot advantage through the first half, 5-0 for shots on goal.

The Wildcats started the second half with strong defensive efforts from Dickinson and Ire Omotayo who blocked a pair of chances in the box. The Hoyas had the breakthrough goal in the 49^th minute with Henley Tippins taking a turn past a group of Wildcat defenders to take a shot just outside the six-yard box that connected with the opposite corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.

Hannah Curtin had a pair of chances shortly after that went just shy of the net. Koluch and Morgan Kotch sent two strong attempts at the net in the 72^nd and 73^rd minutes, but both of those were saved by Cara Martin.

Lardner and Natalie Means led all players with 10 shots and five on goal each.

Villanova comes back home Saturday for the first of its final two regular season games, hosting Providence at 12 p.m. for its Pink Out game.