The No. 17 Georgetown men’s lacrosse team defeated No. 11 Denver Saturday afternoon to win its second consecutive Big East Tournament championship. Senior attacker Daniel Bucaro led the way for the Hoyas (13-4, 3-2 Big East), with four goals in the 12-9 victory. The Pioneers (10-5, 4-1 Big East) found scoring contributions from six different players, but could not muster enough offense after defeating Georgetown 16-9 back on March 30.
After an exchange of goals to start the game, the Hoyas quickly opened up a big lead in the opening quarter. Senior midfielder Lucas Wittenberg, junior attacker Jake Carraway, senior attackers Austin McDonald and Robert Clark, and Bucaro all got on the board before the first quarter came to end, as Georgetown went ahead 6-2.
The second quarter was much quieter, as each team only found the back of the net once. After assisting on both his team’s goals in the first, sophomore midfielder Jack Hannah scored a goal five minutes into the second to bring the Pioneers back within three. Four minutes later, Wittenberg restored the margin back to four with an unassisted effort, and the Hoyas went into the break leading 7-3 in the low-scoring affair.
Coming out of halftime, Hannah continued to shoulder the load for Denver, scoring his second goal five minutes into the third quarter. That score triggered a quick 3-0 run for the Pioneers as they brought it back within one midway through the quarter. But the Hoyas immediately responded with a 3-0 stretch of their own. Carraway found the back of the net off Wittenberg’s second assist of the day, before Bucaro scored twice unassisted to open the fourth. That second goal, Bucaro’s third of the day, tied Georgetown’s program record for career goals with 144, and put his squad up 10-6. The teams would then exchange goals for the remainder of the game, as the Pioneers were unable to close the gap. Before it was over, Bucaro scored his fourth on the day, his 53rd on the season, and the 145th in his career to take sole possession of the all-time Georgetown record.
After capturing the conference title, the Hoyas will now await their seeding in the NCAA tournament which will be revealed along with the entire bracket on Sunday at 9:00 p.m. ET. For continued coverage of all Georgetown sports, follow @GUVoiceSports on Twitter.
