Playing their second game in four days, the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team found themselves in a close match-up against a lower-ranked Hobart squad. The No. 8 Hoyas (4-1, 2-0 ECAC) and No. 17 Statesmen (3-2, 0-1 ECAC) staged an epic battle on the Multi-Sport Field, with the Hoyas prevailing 11-9.
Georgetown jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first quarter off two goals from midfielder Dave Paolisso and one from sophomore attackman Brendan Cannon. Hobart bounced right back with the final goal of the quarter and the first goal of the second to even the score at 3-3. The two teams would then swap goals twice before first-half play ended with the score tied 5-5.
The Hoyas opened up a slight lead in the second half on consecutive goals by senior attackman Sean Denihan, with assists by Brendan Cannon. The second goal came off a skillful behind-the-back shot that put Georgetown up 8-6 and brought some life to the Hoya crowd. Denihan would continue to be the team’s offensive hero as he racked up two more goals before the contest concluded. His performance earned him ECAC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
“Putting them in good spots,” was the key to his shots Denihan said. “The last couple games, I’ve been getting some shots but kept hitting the goalie. Today I didn’t.”
Hobart, however, refused to go away though. The Statesmen went on a 3-0 run, started by David’s fourth goal of the game at the 5:54 mark. Four penalties in three minutes at the end of the third quarter plagued the Hoya defense, as the Statesmen’s next two goals came on man-up opportunities.
“You don’t like to see them back to back to back like that,” Hoya Head Coach Dave Urick said of the penalties.
With 2:41 left in the third quarter, freshman midfielder David O’Quinn’s pass from behind the net found sophomore attackman Daryl Veltman, cutting to the goal and ready to put it past Hoya sophomore goalie Miles Kass. O’Quinn then scored just 18 seconds into the fourth quarter on an assist by Veltman. The Statesmen found themselves with a 9-8 advantage for its first lead of the game.
The Hoyas dug themselves out of this hole with solid defensive play for the rest of the fourth quarter. Kass and the rest of the Hoya defense held the Statesmen scoreless for the final 14 minutes of the game.
“Those were outside shots,” Kass said of Hobart’s final attempts. “Our defensemen kept it to the outside, and I was able to make the saves.”
The Hoyas’ tight defense gave their offensive attack a chance to end the game on a 3-0 run of its own. Denihan scored his fourth and fifth goals of the game and also assisted on a goal by junior attackman Trevor Casey to give the Hoyas the win.
Georgetown will open up a three game road trip at No. 2 Duke (6-2) on Saturday, March 25.
