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 | Wildcats’ 3rd Quarter Seals Win

After a snowstorm in the Philadelphia area delayed the game, the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team (3-6, 0-2 Big East) fell to conference rival Villanova (3-5, 2-0 Big East) 13-8 Wednesday.

The first half of the game was evenly paced, but Villanova went on a seven-goal run to pull ahead in the third quarter. Although the Hoyas fought back, the Wildcats’ lead proved to be insurmountable, and they cruised to the 13-8 victory.

Georgetown Head Coach Kevin Warne believes that lapses in his team’s performance are accountable for Villanova’s third-quarter scoring opportunities.

“They did what they needed to do,” Warne said of Villanova. “I’m not sure if we followed the game plan. I think there were breakdowns on our end, whether offensively or defensively, that they capitalized on a lot, and I think that hurts the most. The intensity that we showed a week earlier was not there.”

Before Villanova’s scoring run sealed Georgetown’s fate, the two teams fought, trying to establish a lead in the first half. Freshman midfielder Devon Lewis put Georgetown on the board first, scoring five minutes into the first quarter off of an assist from junior attack Bo Stafford; however, Villanova answered three minutes later. The score would remain 1-1 through the end of the quarter.

Georgetown junior attack and co-captain Reilly O’Connor opened up the second quarter with a goal at 12:21 with an assist from junior midfielder Charlie McCormick, but again, Villanova tied it up three minutes later. Villanova added two more goals during the second quarter to make the score 4-2 at the half.

At the beginning of the third quarter, O’Connor scored his second goal of the game at 12:19 and was closely followed by senior attack Jeff Fountain, who scored at 11:02 to even the game 4-4. Georgetown’s efforts to tie the game proved to be in vain though; in a span of eight minutes beginning at 10:25, Villanova scored seven goals to take a commanding 11-4 lead. Freshman attack Peter Conley finally stopped the Wildcats’ streak with six seconds on the clock to make the score 11-5 heading into the fourth quarter.

The fourth quarter followed the pattern of back-and-forth scoring that defined the first half of the game. After a Villanova goal at 8:44, Conley answered at 7:54 with an unassisted goal. Senior midfielder Grant Fisher also contributed two goals. Despite the fact that Georgetown outscored Villanova 3-2 in the final period, Villanova’s six-goal lead at the beginning of the quarter proved to be insurmountable.

Coming into the game, Warne knew that Georgetown’s defense would need to be persistent in communicating and maintaining good positioning to help on-ball defenders. Warne believes that his players failed to meet these goals, especially during the third quarter.

“I think [a lack of communication] led to a lot of our defensive breakdowns,” Warne said. “We just didn’t talk to one another and we didn’t help each other out. We want to make sure our guys are accountable for each other and each other’s man on the field, and I didn’t think we did a good job [of that]. We’re a little inconsistent, and we just need to improve that for [Saturday’s game against Denver].”

Despite the loss, Warne was encouraged by the team’s offensive efforts.

“I think you start to see the same guys get some points, and you’re starting to see those guys emerge on the offensive end,” Warne said. “I’m not going to say that our execution was great, but we’re understanding the game plan and knowing what we need to do. [Now] we just need to do it.”

Up next, Georgetown returns home to play No. 6 Big East newcomer Denver. Matching up against a nationally ranked opponent poses challenges in its own regard; a shortened practice schedule for the rest of the week because of to the game delay puts some additional pressures on the Hoyas as they prepare for the weekend.

Warne wants to make the most out the remaining days by focusing on correcting the mistakes that he saw on the field Wednesday.

“I think what you need to do when you have a short week is worry about yourself a little bit more,” Warne said. “We need to be able to pick up ground balls, we need to be able to just stick to the fundamentals, whether it’s defensive positioning, communication, throwing and catching, shooting the ball, dodging — those are all little things that you work on at lacrosse camp, and now they need to come to fruition against the sixth-ranked team in the country.”

 

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