Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Women’s Lacrosse | GU Falls 9-8 in Final Seconds

FILE PHOTO: NAAZ MODAN/THE HOYA Senior goalkeeper Megan McDonald recorded five saves in the second half of Georgetown’s 9-8 loss to Villanova on Wednesday. McDonald has recorded 54 saves this season in 426 minutes in the cage.
FILE PHOTO: NAAZ MODAN/THE HOYA
Senior goalkeeper Megan McDonald recorded five saves in the second half of Georgetown’s 9-8 loss to Villanova on Wednesday. McDonald has recorded 54 saves this season in 426 minutes in the cage.

With just 17 seconds on the clock, the Georgetown women’s lacrosse team (5-9, 3-2 Big East) let in a tie-breaking goal from University of Connecticut (12-2, 6-0 Big East) sophomore Grace Nolan, losing 9-8 in a close and hard-fought game Wednesday afternoon.

The Hoyas and Huskies have a history of one-goal games. Last season, the Hoyas were able to hang on and beat the Huskies 13-2 but then lost 11-10 in the Big East semifinals.

For Georgetown, freshman midfielder Francesca Whitehurst made two goals and recorded an assist while senior attack Corinne Etchinson and senior midfielder Kristen Bandos also scored two goals each. The Hoyas had 27 shots compared to the Huskies’ 23 and 13 draw controls compared to the Huskeis’ six.

Both teams picked up an equal number of ground balls and Georgetown’s goalies — junior Maddy Fisher and senior Megan McDonald — combined to make seven saves. UConn’s senior goalie Shannon Nee played the whole game and recorded 10 saves to pick up the win.

Nolan scored a hat trick during the game, which put her at 40 goals for the season, second to UConn’s senior attack Katherine Finkelston whose three goals raised her total to 43.

Head Coach Ricky Fried said his team played well and kept its composure, but the squad’s level of play just was not enough.

“We were poised and had a lot of shots. I thought we fought hard for the whole game, but at the end of the day, we make too many mistakes,” Fried said.

FILE PHOTO: NAAZ MODAN/THE HOYA Senior attack Kelsey Perselay had one goal in Georgetown’s 9-8 loss to UConn on Wednesday. She has eight goals this season.
FILE PHOTO: NAAZ MODAN/THE HOYA
Senior attack Kelsey Perselay had one goal in Georgetown’s 9-8 loss to UConn on Wednesday. She has eight goals this season.

The Hoyas opened the game with a 2-0 lead with senior attack Kelsey Perselay scoring in the first 16 seconds and Bandos adding another goal a minute later. UConn got on the board at 22:33 after Nolan scored her first of three off a free position shot. After a goal from freshman attack Taylor Gebhardt increased the lead to 3-1, the Huskies put together a 4-0 run to take their first lead of the game.

UConn was up 5-4 entering the second half. Junior attack Jacqueline Jordan opened the second half by scoring to increase UConn’s lead. After Georgetown cut the deficit, Nolan tallied her second goal of the day to make it 7-5. Georgetown responded with a 3-0 run, but another goal from Nolan tied the score with three minutes left to play. After freshman midfielder Morgan Ryan was penalized with 24 seconds left, the Huskies were man-up and Nolan found the back of the goal to score the game-winner.

Georgetown will play Marquette (6-9, 3-2 Big East) next in the Hoyas’ final home game of the season. Marquette is coming off a recent 11-7 win over Vanderbilt (5-10, 1-5 Big East). In the matchup, the Golden Eagles were down by one with 81/2 minutes remaining in the second half but led a five-goal resurgence in the remaining minutes to pull away with the win.

Marquette is paced by junior attack Julianna Shearer, who currently leads the team in goals with 32 this season. Shearer scored a hat trick in Marquette’s victory over Vanderbilt.

Junior attack Amanda Bochniak also poses an offensive threat; she tops her team in points this season with 37, 21 of which are assists, another team high. Bochniak scored one goal and tallied three assists in the Vanderbilt win.

As the season comes to a close, Fried stressed the importance of finishing out games and performing well before the Big East tournament begins in early May.

“We want to try and make sure we are playing here in the Big East tournament. We need to continue to secure what we set out to do at the beginning of the game. We need to focus on the fundamentals: just catching, throwing and shooting. If we can improve in those areas, that will serve us really well, and it will be a positive outcome,” Fried said.

The game is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Cooper Field.

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