The Georgetown Hoyas men’s lacrosse team (7-3, 0-2 Big East) dropped their second straight conference game at Denver (6-3, 1-0 Big East) with a 16-9 defeat. The Hoyas were led by junior attacker Jake Carraway, who scored two goals and added two assists, and senior attacker Daniel Bucaro, who notched two goals and one assist. Denver’s main contributors were senior attacker Austin French with four goals and two assists and junior attacker Ethan Walker with three goals and two assists.
The game started off on the right foot for the Hoyas with a goal by Bucaro only one and a half minutes in. The Hoyas played some strong defense initially, keeping Denver scoreless for the first six minutes. However, the Pioneers showed why they are ranked No. 9 with four consecutive goals in the next two minutes, not letting Georgetown answer thanks to their superiority in the faceoff circle. Georgetown finally responded with a goal by freshman faceoff specialist James Reilly. The first period ended with a score of 5-3, with both Denver and Georgetown netting a goal each in the final seconds.
The second period began with Carraway’s first goal of the game, which was followed by another four goal run by the Pioneers, securing a five goal differential at half time. The Pioneers were led by Walker with two goals and by faceoff specialist freshman Brett Boos, who racked up two assists and five faceoff wins. The Hoyas ended the half with a Bucaro goal, but Denver’s defensive dominance was going to make it an uphill battle.
The second half began with two straight goals from the Pioneers, bumping their lead up to seven, until Carraway was able to end the run with a goal of his own with 8:05 to go in the third. Both teams went scoreless for the rest of the period, leaving the Hoyas with very little time to overcome the six goal deficit.
The last quarter began with the same defensive efficiency, going for more than three minutes without a goal. Denver’s sophomore midfielder Ted Sullivan scored the first goal after nearly twelve minutes, which was quickly answered by Georgetown’s senior attacker Robert Clark. The Pioneers ended any last hopes with three straight goals in less than two minutes, making the comeback impossible. Georgetown finished the game with two goals by freshman attacker Dylan Watson and senior midfielder Lucas Wittenberg respectively, leaving the final score at 16-9.
The Hoyas’ sloppy play that led to 12 turnovers and only 21 shots on goal was a key reason for the loss. In addition, Denver’s 18-11 faceoff advantage gave them the opportunity to take advantage of Georgetown’s defensive fatigue to score 16 goals on them.
The Georgetown Hoyas return to action next Saturday April 6th at Providence (5-5, 1-0 Big East) for their third conference game. Start is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET. Follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter for more updates and coverage of all sports at Georgetown.
