This past Saturday, the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team (5-8, 2-3 Big East) fell to No. 3 Syracuse (10-3, 4-1 Big East) 9-8 at Multi-Sport Field, spoiling Senior Day for eight players.
First-year Head Coach Kevin Warne decided to start the game with six men on the field, instead of 10, which resulted in a penalty on the Hoyas, and the Orange starting the game with the ball. Warne wanted to send a message to his team due to team policy violations committed by multiple players. Despite the decision, the Hoyas responded with a stop on defense.
At halftime, the Hoyas led 5-4 thanks to two early goals from senior attack Travis Comeau. Comeau’s fourteenth and fifteenth goals were a game high for the Hoyas. Syracuse opened the second half with Derek Maltz scoring his 24th goal of the season 4 minutes and 26 seconds in. The Hoyas responded quickly with junior long pole face–off specialist Tyler Knarr winning the faceoff, who raced down the field and scored his first goal of the season. Georgetown led 6-5 after the goal.
In the second half, the Hoyas hot play simmered due to poor offensive possessions and Syracuse’s imposing team defense. The Orange took advantage by scoring four unanswered goals and led by a score of 9-6 with 12:56 remaining.
However, senior midfielder Dan McKinney’s unassisted goal with 2 minutes left broke the Hoyas’ scoreless streak, which lasted for 23 minutes and 29 seconds, and made it 9-7 Syracuse. Soon after, sophomore midfielder Charles McCormick scored a goal making it a 9-8 game. Following a wild scramble for the ball after the face-off, Georgetown gained possession and called a time-out.
After the timeout, with 40 seconds to go, fans were on their feet to see a potential game-tying goal. Georgetown’s sophomore attack Reilly O’Connor went one-on-one with Syracuse senior midfielder Steve Ianzito, when Ianzito’s stick broke. As a result, Ianzito dropped his stick and sprinted to the sideline. Due to the chaos that ensued, the Hoyas panicked and turned the ball over off a bad pass, which allowed Syracuse to hold on for the victory.
“We got a little frazzled only because Ianzito broke his stick, and all of a sudden there was a scramble situation,” said Coach Warne. “We overthought the situation rather than playing, but these things happen.”
The Hoyas will have a chance for some postseason magic as they enter their final regular season game against Rutgers (2-12, 0-5 Big East) with the opportunity to clinch a berth for the Big East conference tournament with a win in New Brunswick, NJ this Saturday.
