The Georgetown women’s lacrosse team (1-1) lost a thrilling game 13-12 in their home opener against Towson (2-0) on Wednesday afternoon. The Hoyas looked impressive at times, but ultimately were not consistent enough to emerge victorious.
Early on, the Hoya defense struggled to find its footing against a strong Towson attack. Towson sophomore midfielder Milana Zizakovic began the game on a tear, scoring twice and adding two assists in the first quarter. Both assists went to senior midfielder Blair Pearre, who scored once more unassisted. Graduate transfer attacker Erin Bakes scored two goals for Georgetown and sophomore attacker Emma Gebhardt added one more to make it a 5-3 game at the end of the first quarter.
The Hoyas started fast in the second quarter, with a goal from graduate transfer midfielder Olivia Rubin 27 seconds after the restart. Towson was not fazed however, and the Tigers scored four goals in the quarter, including another from Zizakovic. Gebhardt added another goal for Georgetown, fighting through a foul to score. Bakes added two more, including one goal scored after a fantastic juke move. Georgetown trailed 8-7 heading into halftime, but the Hoyas made several key adjustments at the break.
Georgetown put sophomore Leah Warheime in goal, and Warheime led an impressive defensive effort in the third quarter. The Hoyas completely stifled the Tigers’ attack, and held them scoreless for the quarter. The Hoyas also began to push the ball more in transition. The aggression paid off; junior attacker Kylie Hazen scored twice,her second goal comingoff an impressive defense-to-offense transition by the Hoyas. Georgetown led 9-8 heading into the final quarter after a strong effort to begin the second half.
The Hoya lead was short-lived, however. Junior midfielder Lindsey Marshall and senior attacker Gabby Garrett both scored for Towson in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter. Towson and Georgetown continued to attack aggressively, and both teams added two goals to their tally: Hazen and senior midfielder Lily Tardif scored for the Hoyas, and Zizakovic and Garrett each grabbed a goal for the Tigers. Sophomore attacker Mia Rehkemper put Towson up 13-11 with six minutes left, and although Emma Gebhardt scored off an incredible run to make it 13-12 with 32 seconds left, Towson won the last draw control of the game and held the ball until time expired.
The Hoyas had to take a tough loss, and although some refereeing decisions drew boos from the Hoya faithful and complaints from Georgetown coaches, Towson was the more efficient team Wednesday. Although the Hoyas outshot the Tigers 34-28, both teams had only 20 shots on target. However, the Hoyas still have a lot of reason for optimism; Bakes looked dangerous all game and Towson was forced to double team her. After a shaky start, the Hoyas cleaned up their act defensively and even completely shut out the Tigers in the third quarter. At the end of the day, the Hoyas could not consistently perform at their best throughout the game.
The Hoyas travel to Piscataway this Saturday for a matchup with No 8. Rutgers (2-0) at 1:00 p.m.
