The fifth-ranked men’s lacrosse team hosted the No. 3 Blue Devils on a wet, overcast and cold day this past Saturday. Although it was Easter break, the stands for the first home game of the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team on North Kehoe field were packed with 1,124 spectators.
Unfortunately, the Hoyas came up short, ending their four-game winning streak in a 12-3 loss.
“Georgetown was out-hustled the entire game. Duke was hungrier for it,” senior midfielder Mike White said.
The game left Georgetown with a 4-2 record while Duke remains undefeated, with nine straight wins.
The Duke men’s lacrosse team last came to Georgetown two years ago. Although Duke led 5-4 in the fourth quarter, Georgetown came back to tie the score and won the game 6-5 in overtime. Last year, the Blue Devils hosted Georgetown but failed to take advantage of their home turf and lost 9-8.
Within the first six minutes of the game, Duke scored the first and only two goals of the first quarter. At the start of the second quarter, Georgetown’s junior attackman Sean Denihan reacted against Duke’s three additional goals, marking his ninth goal of the season.
Eight seconds later, Zack Greer scored another for the Blue Devils, bringing Duke to a five-goal advantage. With just a minute left before the half, Duke scored again, bringing the Hoyas down 1-7 at the end of the second quarter, marking the fourth straight game in which Georgetown has been down at the half.
“Georgetown had its worst day of lacrosse this season and Duke had its best,” senior midfielder Dave Paolisso said. “They just dominated us completely.”
Within the first minute of the third quarter, the Hoya’s sophomore attackman Trevor Casey scored a goal off a Denihan assist. Georgetown then had two unsuccessful shots at Duke’s goalie, Aaron Fenton, after senior midfielder Andrew Corno won the ensuing face-off.
“No one was in it mentally or physically,” White said.
Duke junior Dan Flannery scored four more goals in the final 25 minutes of the game. With just two minutes remaining, an assist from senior attackman Mat Wilson to freshman attackman Andrew Baird brought Georgetown its third and final goal of the game.
After winning just two of the 10 face-offs in the first half, Corno, facing off against Duke’s Dan Oppedisano, came back to win seven of the nine face-offs in the second half.
“We just didn’t come out ready to play,” Paolisso said.
Georgetown senior goalie Rich D’Andrea made nine saves while Duke’s Aaron Fenton had 14 before Dan Loftus came in, making one save. The scoring leader of the game, Dan Flannery of the Blue Devils, had five goals and Duke’s Matt Danowski had four assists, the game’s highest.
Georgetown will host Navy (7-1) this weekend, Saturday April 2nd at 1:00 p.m. on North Kehoe field. The game will be televised on ESPNU and locally on Baltimore’s WMAR Channel 2.
