Despite gaining momentum after a dramatic 14-13 overtime win against St. John’s (7-4, 2-3 Big East) on April 6, the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team (5-7, 2-2 Big East) couldn’t hang on to a 4-goal lead this past Monday against No. 4 Notre Dame.
The Hoyas burst right out of the gate at the first whistle. Sophomore midfielder Charles McCormick took advantage of an early man-up situation to notch the Blue and Gray’s first goal from 15 feet out off an assist by sophomore attacker Reilly O’Connor. O’Connor tallied his second assist of the night just a few minutes later when sophomore midfielder Joseph Bucci doubled the Hoyas lead. Goals from O’Connor himself and senior attacker Travis Comeau gave Georgetown a 4-0 lead with 7 minutes to go in the first quarter.
Two Fighting Irish goals from Sean Rodgers and Tyler Kimball went unanswered until Comeau scored his second goal of the game to close the first quarter with the Hoyas leading 5-2.
“We put in a new system recently … so it was just a matter of going out there, doing what we’re told, and also being lacrosse players and just working off the situations that we were in,” Comeau said of their offensive performance.
Turnovers haunted the Hoyas as Notre Dame scored twice as a direct consequence of Georgetown errors. The Blue and Gray wasted chances in the opponent’s half and saw their lead cut to 5-4 heading into the interval.
Notre Dame scored two quick goals in the first minute after the break to take the lead. Georgetown battled back, as Comeau and Bucci combined for another goal, but couldn’t stop the Irish onslaught as Notre Dame scored two more bringing the score to 8-6.
McCormick continued to work and was rewarded when he scored his second goal of the game, but his effort was cancelled out when the Irish put another goal on the board just before the beginning of the fourth period. Both teams scored once more to bring the final tally to 10-8.
“You should be exposed to whatever a defense or an offense does at this point in the season—somebody’s done it already,” said Head Coach Kevin Warne. “So we do a lot less teaching and a lot more focusing on yourself, more focusing on the fundamentals that we harped on in January to get us ready.”
The Blue and Gray are back in action for their final home game against Syracuse at the Multi-Sport Field on April 20 at 1 p.m.
