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

Men’s Lacrosse | Balanced Effort Topples No. 14 Loyola

ISABEL BINAMIRA/THE HOYA Senior attack Bo Stafford earned a hat-trick in Georgetown’s 13-12 victory over Loyola, scoring a game-high four goals and adding two assists.
ISABEL BINAMIRA/THE HOYA
Senior attack Bo Stafford earned a hat-trick in Georgetown’s 13-12 victory over Loyola, scoring a game-high four goals and adding two assists.

A 31-6 series record and a top-20 ranking meant that Loyola was favored over the unranked Georgetown men’s lacrosse team going into the 38th installment of the Hoya-Greyhound rivalry.

Despite the odds against it, Georgetown (5-3) edged out No. 14 Loyola (4-4) for the first time since 2007 in a fierce 13-12 contest in Baltimore on Wednesday night.

Defeating the Greyhounds was no small feat for the Hoyas, especially because of the loss of sophomore midfielder Peter Conley, a staple of Georgetown’s offense, who did not play due to an injury.

The win marks the first victory that Georgetown has earned over a ranked opponent during a particularly tough slate of matchups in the 2015 season.

Head Coach Kevin Warne said that the victory was a product of unselfishness and team unity.

“I think our energy was awesome tonight and I think we’re believers now,” Warne said. “We’ve been so close. … Loyola’s a heck of a team, and we had a lot of great things happen from a couple different people tonight.”

Georgetown had dropped its two previous games against ranked opponents this season. Close losses to then-No. 2 Notre Dame (4-1, 1-0 ACC) and then-No. 4 Duke (6-1) were both decided by a mere two-goal differential.

“Coming into the game we were all fired up, because we had two close ones against Notre Dame and Duke, and we were hoping that this would be our time to get the win against a ranked team,” senior attack Bo Stafford said. “We came out tonight and played hard and unselfishly, and were fortunate to come out with the win.”

After trailing 5-2 to the Greyhounds at the end of the first quarter, the Hoyas clawed back to a 7-7 tie at the half. Loyola scored two goals early in the third quarter to go up 9-7, but an unanswered five-goal run propelled Georgetown to a 12-9 lead and gave it cushion against three Loyola goals that would come late in the game. The Hoyas held on through the final minutes of the game to emerge with the 13-12 win.

With Conley on the sideline against Loyola, it was crucial for Georgetown to execute an unselfish, balanced style of offense. Seven different Hoyas scored during the game and five recorded assists. Stafford notched four goals and senior attack and co-captain Reilly O’Connor had four assists in the effort.

“The loss of Peter Conley is definitely a tough loss for the offense because we’re losing one of our best players, but we knew that we needed to have guys step up,” Stafford said. “We had a lot of production from our first and second midfield lines, and our attack also had a solid game. With our guys stepping up, going forward, it’ll definitely help our chances of winning.”

With conference play right around the corner, the Loyola upset is a step toward Georgetown’s ultimate goal of seizing the Big East championship title.

First up in the conference season is a home game against No. 9 Marquette (7-0). Though Georgetown is encouraged by its latest win, it is keeping its focus on moving forward.

“We approach every game the same way,” Stafford said. “We watch a lot of film, we prepare hard and we challenge each other every day during practice. … We have Marquette coming up, and we’ll approach them the same way that we do against any other ranked team.”

The Golden Eagles will take the field with an undefeated record to begin its season. Marquette finally broke into the top 10 after becoming the first Division I team to reach seven victories so far in the season, upsetting then-No. 17 Hofstra and then-No. 15 Ohio State along the way.

Warne says that the team understands the importance of the Marquette matchup as the postseason approaches, but agrees with Stafford that hard work and fundamentals are the main focus.

“I think that [Marquette] will have some good things for us,” Warne said. “It’ll be a game of adjustments, but again, at the end of the day, the guys will make plays, we’ll shoot the ball, we’ll pick up ground balls, we’ll stick to fundamentals for the next few days and we’ll give it our best shot against the Golden Eagles on Saturday.”

Opening faceoff is scheduled for noon at MultiSport Facility.

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