This past Saturday afternoon at Multi-Sport Field, the No. 6 Denver Pioneers (8-2, 2-0 Big East), in their first year as a part of the Big East, came away with the victory against the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team (3-7, 0-3 Big East), defeating the Hoyas 17-9. The pinpoint shooting of the Pioneers as well as some untimely turnovers proved too difficult for the Hoyas to overcome, as the loss now extends their losing streak to four games.
The Hoyas jumped out to a 3-2 lead early in the first quarter after a goal by senior attack Jeff Fountain at the 4:58 mark. However, Denver, taking advantage of some costly turnovers by the Hoyas, scored six unanswered goals to give them an 8-3 lead, with 6:12 remaining in the second period. They never looked back from the lead. Overall, Georgetown had a remarkable 20 turnovers in the contest.
“That’s a very good team. If you turn the ball over on one end of the field, they’re going to come down and attack you on the other,” Georgetown Head Coach Kevin Warne said.
Denver junior attack Wesley Berg was the star of the game for the Pioneers. Wreaking havoc on the Hoyas all game with his impeccable shooting and deft dodges, Berg scored a game-high six goals, including four in the first half, and dished out three assists.
“He’s a really good player,” Warne said. “I just thought that he decided to go, ‘Hey, you know what, everything is going to go through me. I’m going to make the decisions.’ You obviously saw that today.”
Fountain led the Hoyas with a team-high three goals. Junior attack Reilly O’Connor added one goal and game-high four assists, while senior midfielder Grant Fisher and freshman midfielder Eduardo White notched two goals apiece. Yet, despite these stats, Warne expects more from his experienced players.
“We have to just reevalute some things,” Warne said. “The thing with us is that we are young. At times, there were four or five freshmen out there. That’s fine, but we need just some of our upperclassmen to step up.”
Not far behind Berg of Denver were his fellow attackmen, sophomore Jack Bobzien and freshman Dallas Bridle. Bobzien scored four goals and had two assists, while Bridle tallied three goals. Warne faults his defense for allowing these sharpshooters the ample scoring opportunities they had during the game.
“There were a lot of shots that I probably would have scored on, and I’m 45 pounds overweight,” Warne said. “We have to do a better job of helping [junior goalie Jake Haley] out, just really can’t hang him out to dry. But also, those guys can shoot into a coffee can. They’re really good shooters. If they clear their hands, there’s a very good chance it’s going to go in.”
Graduate student face-off specialist Tyler Knarr was one bright spot for the Hoyas. Knarr, who was named to the Big East Weekly Honor Roll for his play, won 20-of-27 face-offs for the Hoyas. But unfortunately, his teammates couldn’t convert on the offensive end.
“We had the ball a lot more than they did, and we just didn’t capitalize,” Warne said. “It could have been a game where it could have been ‘make it, take it.’”
With the loss to the perennial national contender Denver, Warne hopes his team can learn from the experience and use it as motivation in the process of rebuilding themselves back into a national contender.
“They’re the standard. They’re really, really good. If we want to be really good, we got to play to their level and play above their level. I think what you saw today is a team. That’s the league standard,” he said. “We’re not there yet. We’ll get there. Without a doubt, we’ll get there. But right now, we just have to concentrate on things we need to do to get better every game. If it ends up that way, we’ll be in good shape.”
But, aside from the long term, the Hoyas have to snap their losing streak if they want to compete in the postseason’s Big East Tournament, for which only the top four teams in the final league standings qualify. Every game now counts for Warne and his team, as they enter their next game this Saturday against Providence (3-7, 0-2 Big East) at Multi-Sport Field, followed by a week off until their next matchup against Lehigh (8-4, 4-2 Patriot).
“For us, our playoffs start now,” Warne said. “We’re 0-3 in the conference, that’s the reality. We have to get a win this week against Providence, who’s going to be very motivated. It will be a good test on Saturday.”
