After a 20-hour delay due to an incoming snowstorm, the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team (3-6, 0-2) faced off against the Villanova Wildcats (3-5, 2-0) at Villanova on Wednesday, eventually falling 13-8.
Freshman midfielder Devon Lewis scored his ninth goal for the season and first points for the game with an assist from junior attacker Bo Stafford, who racked up his tenth assist overall at the 10:19 mark in the first period.
Villanova would respond three minutes and 18 seconds later with a goal from senior attacker Kevin O’Neil, assisted by freshman midfielder Austin Frederick. Even though Georgetown only took three shots compared to Villanova’s 14 in the first period, junior goaltender Jake Haley’s spectacular play in the first half helped Georgetown keep the score tied by making seven of his ten saves in the first period.
The score remained tied into the second period until junior midfielder Reilly O’Connor scored off an assist from junior midfielder Charlie McCormick. This, however, would be the last lead that the Hoyas would have for the entire game. Freshman goalkeeper Dan Willis prevented the Hoyas from scoring much with his four saves in the period, limiting Georgetown to only one point. After O’Connor’s goal, Villanova would respond with a 3-0 run to end the second period, with Villanova up 4-2.
Georgetown would tie up the game 4-4 with two goals from senior attacker John Fountain and O’Connor, but Villanova would then score seven unanswered points until freshman attacker Peter Conley, assisted by O’Connor, scored with six seconds left in the third period.
The Hoyas attempted to make a run in the fourth with another goal by Conley and two goals from senior midfielder Fisher Grant, assisted both times by O’Connor. The effort by the Georgetown men, however, was not enough and the game ended with Villanova winning 13-8.
Even though O’Connor led the team with two goals and three assists with Fisher and Grant scoring two goals each, offensively, Georgetown was never able to match Villanova, who would finish the game attempting 40 shots, 15 more than Georgetown’s 25. Georgetown has now lost all three of its games when it failed to attempt more than 30 shots.
With this loss, Georgetown has now dropped three in a row for a disappointing start in conference play while Villanova has won its first two conference games. The Hoyas will look to end this three game slide when they face the Denver University Pioneers (7-2, 1-0), the nation’s No. 6 ranked team and a new addition to the Big East.
Denver is currently on a four game winning streak of beating its opponents by three or more points, and will prove to be a tough match for Georgetown. High scoring midfielder freshman Tyler Pace and junior Erik Adamson, and freshman attacker Zach Miller have led the way for the Denver offense.
Georgetown will play against Denver this Saturday, March 29, at home on the Multi-Sport Field starting at 11:00 a.m. Unless the weather causes another postponement, Fox College Sports will be broadcasting this game live.
