By defeating Notre Dame 17-8 on Saturday, the unstoppable Georgetown women’s lacrosse team, ranked No. 2 in the nation, clinched its second consecutive Big East Conference championship. Senior All-America attack Erin Elbe led all scorers with four goals and two assists in the game. The Hoyas also defeated No. 15 Penn State last night 18-9. With the victories, Georgetown improved to 13-1 overall and 5-0 in Big East play, while the Irish fell to 9-4 overall and 4-1 in Big East competition. The Nittany Lions fell to 6-8 with the loss.
The Hoyas’ second-to-last game of the regular season took place last night against Penn State at State College, Pa. The Nittany Lions could not handle the Hoyas’ offense, in the Georgetown victory.
The Nittany Lions scored the first goal of the afternoon, but were answered only 16 seconds later by Elbe, who netted her first of five less than one minute into the game, sparking a 5-0 Georgetown run. Penn State answered, however, and closed to within three at the half.
The margin was still three with the Hoyas leading 9-6 with 25:51 remaining. However, Georgetown made a 6-0 run in the following 12 minutes to bring the score to 15-6. After Penn State scored once, Georgetown came back with three more unanswered goals. The score stood at 18-7 with less than eight minutes remaining.
The Hoyas’ match against Notre Dame started similarly to the Penn State game. Georgetown’s scoring began after Notre Dame led early 1-0. The Hoyas quickly changed the pace of the game and had soon put themselves up 6-1 with 14:47 remaining in the first half. Senior attack Kate Ahearn posted two goals during the run.
The Irish answered with two goals less than a minute apart to pull to 6-3, but the Hoyas again pulled away. Goals from Elbe and sophomore midfield Gloria Lozano pushed the Hoyas’ lead to five with 10:14 remaining in the first half. The Hoyas held on to lead 11-5 at the half.
Ahearn started the second half with an unassisted goal, and then Elbe put in back-to-back goals to bring her total to four. The Fighting Irish would not give up, coming within seven after two goals, but the Hoyas once again answered back with goals from Lozano, first-year midfield Allison Chambers and junior attack Wick Stanwick to pull ahead 17-7. Notre Dame scored the last goal with 1:09 remaining to make the final score 17-8.
Senior Chandler Vicchio and first-year Sarah Robinson both saw time at goalie for the Hoyas. Vicchio rejected seven shots and gave up six goals, while Robinson allowed only one goal.
Elbe was named the Big East Conference Offensive player of the week for the week ending April 22. Elbe had 13 goals in two games against William and Mary and Notre Dame.
The Hoyas last game of the regular season will take place this Saturday at Big East foe Connecticut.
