Both the Georgetown Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse teams entered their Saturday season openers ranked no. 6 in the country. Unfortunately, only one of the squads played up to their preseason hype, as the Women Hoyas romped over no. 15 Cornell, 16-8, while the men were routed by no. 5 Maryland, 14-5.
Seeking their ninth consecutive season opening win, the men’s lacrosse team took to Harbin Field in the country’s most highly-anticipated opener on Saturday. The team scored the first goal of the season halfway through the first quarter on a shot from junior attackman Kevin Langtry, and the game seemed to be headed in the right direction for the Hoyas.
Unfortunately for Georgetown, the Terrapins had other plans. Coming off a season in which they reached the NCAA tournament semifinals, and with two of their three starting defensemen preseason All-Americans, Maryland effectively shut down the Georgetown attack the rest of the afternoon.
While the Hoyas’ defense started with similar strength, with a number of superb saves by junior goalie Rich D’Andrea, the team’s long sticks were soon overcome by Maryland’s crafty offense, which used ball movement plays and off-pass picks to get close, open looks at the Georgetown goal.
Sophomore attackman Xander Ritz dominated the Hoyas’ throughout the game, scoring three goals and four assists to lead the Terps. “It’s not like we won a national championship, but it will give us confidence,” Ritz said. His classmate, attackman Joe Walters is another prospective All-American, and added three goals for Maryland. The Terps went 4-4 on their man-up opportunities off Georgetown penalties, while the Hoyas were 1-4.
The story of the afternoon was Maryland’s stifling defense, which locked down Georgetown’s top weapons throughout the game. The Terps forced 25 Georgetown turnovers, and defenseman Lee Zink held Georgetown senior attackman and co-captain Neal Goldman to one assist and three turnovers. Goldman’s teammates couldn’t pick up his slack, as senior midfielder and co-captain Walid Hajj, last year’s leading scorer, was 0-6 in shots on goal.
“We knew Maryland was one of the better defensive teams in the country,” Georgetown Coach Dave Urick said. Only the surprising offensive bursts from Langtry and sophomore midfielder Keith Schroeder, who both finished with a goal and an assist, kept the Hoyas from being blanked by the Terps.
Georgetown’s highly touted first line of midfielders-Hajj, junior Brice Queener, and senior Nick Maritis-were outplayed by their less-heralded Maryland counterparts. The Terps’ line of Bill McGlone, Brendan Healy and J.R. Bordley racked up four goals on the Hoyas, and Hajj was victimized twice behind the cage leading to easy goals. Terps Coach Dave Cottle was surprised by Maryland’s efficiency. “I thought it would be a low scoring game,” Cottle said.
The lone bright spot of the game for the Hoyas inspired and creative play from their younger second midfield line: sophomores Peter Cannon, Schroeder, and Wes Trice. Trice scored the first goal of his Georgetown career, and Cannon played tough defense and set up good offensive looks for the Hoyas.
Luckily, all was not a wash for Georgetown lacrosse on Saturday, as the women’s team romped to an easy win over the Cornell Big Red. Georgetown took early control of the game, scoring its first seven goals from seven different players to shock Cornell. Junior attacker Sarah Oliphant paced the Hoyas with four goals and an assist, and junior midfielders Ali Chambers and Lauren Bernier each had a three-goal hat trick in the game.
“For us, I think the biggest frustration is giving up that many goals,” Cornell coach Jenny Graap said. “They dominated pretty much every facet of the game.”
The Hoyas’ defense kept the Big Red under wraps for nearly the entire first half, and it took 16:07 for Cornell to get on the scoreboard. While there was some concern that the Big Red would open with a big second half, the Hoyas shut down Cornell after the break. “I felt like we took control in the second half,” Georgetown coach Kim Simon’s said. “They started to waver.”
The team’s commanding lead allowed them to experiment in goal, and junior Sarah Robinson yielded the cage to first-year Margaret Farland for the final six minutes. Robinson stopped six goals in her time between the nets, while Cornell’s two goalies combined for only four saves.
Both the men’s and women’s lacrosse team will be in action this weekend, as the women travel to Blacksburg Va. to face Virginia Tech, and the men host no. 12 Cornell on Harbin Field.
