Georgetown Senior midfielder Walid Hajj is a 2004 pre-season All-American. With 3:14 remaining in Sunday’s game against no. 7 Duke, he showed why he deserved the honors.
Hajj scored his only goal of Sunday’s game on a rocket of a shot deep in the fourth quarter. The goal gave the Hoyas a 9-8 victory over the Blue Devils, their third consecutive one-goal win over Duke.
“Walid’s shot was a truly All-American shot,” Georgetown Head Coach Dave Urick said. “It was a great shot from a real leader.”
The Hoyas used a balanced offensive attack to keep the Duke defense off balance throughout the game. The team used three full offensive lines of midfielders consistently for the first time this season, and nine different Hoyas scored goals as a result.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever had nine guys score goals in a single game in my career,” Urick said. “And I’ve been coaching for 30 years.”
Georgetown took advantage of a particularly sloppy first half by the Devils to run off six unanswered goals in the second period and take control of the game 7-3.
“We were absolutely pathetic in the first half,” Duke Head Coach Mike Pressler said. “We couldn’t pick up a ground ball and we couldn’t defend. It was the worst display of offense we’ve had here in the first half.”
The Devils responded with a strong third period, however, scoring three times to pull within a goal. First-year attackman Dan Flannery, who Urick said was playing “as well as anyone in the country,” got the run started with a quick goal to regain the momentum. Fellow Duke attackman Chris Haunss and midfielder Lee Skandalaris also scored to pull the Devils back within a goal.
“We picked it up a bunch in the second half,” Haunss said. “In the first half we just let ourselves fall too far behind.”
Sophomore attackman Derek Mills, the man-up specialist and the point man on Georgetown’s extra-man opportunities, scored a key goal to give Georgetown a two-goal cushion heading into the final period. Mills’ goal was the second for the Hoyas on the man-up, but the team finished 2-5 on the game, down from the over 50 percent they had scored over their previous games against Delaware and Hobart.
Duke refused to die in front of their home crowd, however, as midfielder Aaron Fenton sent scored early in the period to crawl back within a goal. Georgetown Junior Goalie rich D’Andrea was able to swat away two shots of Duke’s fourth-quarter offensive barrage, but Flannery’s second goal tied the game with only 6:43 remaining.
Luckily for the Hoyas, Senior Face-off Specialist Andy Corno was at the top of his game, and he won the ensuing face-off to give Georgetown possession. Winning all four of his fourth quarter face-offs, the midfielder gave Georgetown a decisive advantage throughout the game. Corno, who won 15 of his 20 face-offs, was named Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week. Corno also tied for the team lead in ground balls with junior Brodie Merrill.
Both players finished with 12, and some of Merrill’s were particularly impressive. At one point, Merrill scooped up a loose ball on his knees, kept his cradle while getting up in the middle of a pack of Duke players, and streaked down the field, single-handedly clearing the ball out of the Georgetown defensive zone.
“Brodie is a great player,” Urick said. “He’s the kind of guy that never takes a minute off in practice, and he’s really become a defensive leader.”
Merrill and Hajj are both still in the running for the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association’s player of the year award, the collegiate lacrosse version of college football’s Heisman.
With the ball in the offensive zone, Georgetown was able to rattle off a number of shots on Duke Goalie Aaron Fenton. While Fenton made a number of key saves throughout the game, the Hoyas barrage eventually wore him down, and Hajj’s shot was too fast and strong for him to handle.
While the win was a big step for the Hoyas, the team had to immediately move on and concentrate on their key matchup with no. 6 Navy on Saturday.
“This may be the most talented Midshipmen team we’ve faced in years, particularly on the offensive end,” Urick said.
Luckily for Georgetown, the defense seems to have regained the confidence and control they have shown over past years in recent weeks. The team struggled on clears on Sunday, down to 11-20, but was remarkably effective in shutting down a powerful Duke offense behind strong efforts from senior Andrew Braziel and sophomores Reyn Garnett and John Trapp.
The team will need similar success and better clearing to pass Navy on Saturday. After a strong showing from the Hoya Blue road trip which brought Georgetown fans to the Duke game, Urick said he hopes to get even better support for Saturday’s home game.
“It was really great to see the fans down there,” Urick said. “I don’t remember ever having that many fans travel for a game, and hopefully it’s a sign that we’ll get more people out all the time.”
Face-off against Navy is set for 1 p.m. Saturday on Harbin Field.
