Both the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams have finished their regular season play, the men’s team at Villanova University on April 24 and the women’s team on the Hilltop, hosting the University of Denver at home, on April 25.
The men’s team comfortably handled the Villanova Wildcats with a score of 9-6, securing the regular season conference title and the No. 1 seed for the BIG EAST Championships next weekend.
The women’s team fell in an 11-5 disappointing defeat to the University of Denver Pioneers, marking their first conference loss of the season. The Hoyas ended regular-season play in second place in the conference.
For both teams, these games were important, not only for conference standings, but also for their postseasons. Here is how they went and what it means for the Hoyas.
On the women’s side
Georgetown women’s lacrosse (11-5, 5-1 BIG EAST) hosted the University of Denver Pioneers (13-3, 6-0 BIG EAST) on Saturday, April 25, to end regular-season play with a battle for the BIG EAST regular-season title.
Denver came out hot off the first draw, immediately putting the Hoya defense on its heels. Just over three minutes into the game, junior midfielder Olivia Ripple found the back of the net for the Pioneers. Denver scored twice more over the next two minutes, including a second goal from Ripple, making the score 3-0 before the Hoya offense even got a chance.
Georgetown’s first offensive possessions were promising, but the Hoyas could not find the back of the net due to several turnovers and a saved shot attempt. It wasn’t until there was just 2:14 left in the first quarter that sophomore attacker Sophia Loschert finally scored. Nevertheless, another Pioneer goal with less than a minute in the quarter brought the score to 5-1 at the end of the first.
The second quarter slightly shrank the Hoya deficit with goals from freshman attacker Molly Davies and junior attacker Anne McGovern. Their goals made the score 5-3 going into halftime.
Coming out of half, the two-goal deficit seemed to energize the Hoyas, though Ripple effectively shut down any momentum the Hoyas had. She scored two unanswered goals before McGovern was finally able to find the back of the net off an assist from senior attacker Molly Byrne to make the score 7-4.
Finally, in the fourth quarter, the Hoya offense seemed to assert itself. McGovern, who leads the Hoyas in points and assists on the season, drew two free-position shots, though she missed them both wide.
Throughout the game, the Hoya offense showed signs of cohesion through goals like the one by junior midfielder Danica Blix with 4:12 left in the game. Blix found her way to the center of the 8-meter scoring area, priming Davies to locate her for a tricky assist and Georgetown’s fifth goal of the game.
Nevertheless, Blix’s score was not the norm for the Hoya offense in the game. The Hoyas consistently made unforced turnovers in their attacking third. Furthermore, these turnovers were not on difficult passes for potential scores, but were rather execution errors on passes away from the goal.
At the end of the fourth quarter, the wheels fell off the bus for the entire Georgetown team. The Pioneers scored four goals in the fourth, and the Hoyas were unable to stage a meaningful counterattack. The game ended 11-5 in Denver’s favor.
One bright spot for the Hoyas was their defensive intensity, pressuring the Pioneers’ clears. While they only forced two turnovers on clears, the Pioneers had to work to get the ball into their attacking third.
The other highlight of the game was the performance of graduate goalkeeper Leah Warehime, who had a total of 12 saves on the game—her second-best of the season.
The loss is Georgetown’s first in conference play this season, setting the Hoyas up to be the likely No. 2 seed going into the BIG EAST Championships. The semifinal game, which is the first round, will take place at 9 p.m. EST on April 30. If the Hoyas win this game, they will play in the championship on May 2.
Saturday’s loss is difficult for the Hoyas, who likely need to win the BIG EAST in order to make the NCAA Championships. Nevertheless, the Hoyas still have a good shot at achieving this goal. The Hoyas beat every other team in the conference and have proven that they have what it takes to perform in big games.
Georgetown will need to enter their postseason games with confidence, especially if they end up facing the Pioneers in a potential championship match. The Hoyas started Saturday’s game slowly, and it looked like they were intimidated by the No. 14 Pioneers. However, the highlights of Saturday’s match proved that Georgetown is able to match the skill of the Pioneers, and if the Hoyas clean up their offensive execution, they will be a difficult team to beat.
On the men’s side
Georgetown men’s lacrosse (8-4, 5-0 BIG EAST) traveled to the University of Villanova on Friday, April 24, to take on the Wildcats (6-7, 3-2 BIG EAST) and preserve their undefeated conference record. The Hoyas were successful in their endeavor, pulling out a 9-6 win over the Wildcats.
Scoring for the Hoyas started in the first seven seconds of play with a goal by junior attacker Liam Connor. Just four minutes later, Connor assisted his brother, graduate attacker Rory Connor, to quickly go up 2-0. The Wildcats did get on the board in the quarter with two goals, but it was not enough to match the five that Georgetown put up in the first—with three attributed to Rory Connor alone.
In the second quarter, the Hoyas stretched their lead to five with two unanswered goals by sophomore attacker Jack Ransom and a fourth by Rory Connor. The Wildcats fought back with two unassisted goals to make the score 7-4 at half.
The offensive fire of each team decreased in the second half, with both Georgetown and Villanova scoring only once in each of the third and fourth quarters. Georgetown’s sophomore midfielder Kevin Miller was credited with both of the Hoya goals, making the score 9-6 at the end of the game.
One highlight for the Hoyas was their team play: seven of their nine goals came off assists. Georgetown averages 8.91 assists per game, fourth in all of Division I and leading the BIG EAST by a significant margin.
The Hoyas’ other biggest advantage in the post-season will clearly be the Connor brothers. Against Villanova, the Connors led all players with four points in the game, one goal and three assists for Liam Connor and four goals for Rory Connor. Not only do the Connors lead the Hoyas in both goals and assists, but they also nearly lead all of Division I. Not including Friday’s game, Liam Connor is No. 1 in the NCAA with 41 assists and an average of 3.73 assists per game. Rory Connor is No. 2 in the NCAA with 44 goals on the season and an average of 4.00 goals per game. Additionally, Rory Connor was one of 25 players nominated for the Tewaaraton Award, which annually honors the top college lacrosse player in the United States.
The Connors’ offensive threat will be a challenge for any team in the country to stop, but they are not the only Hoyas with strong individual statistics. Junior goalkeeper Anderson Moore is the reigning BIG EAST goalkeeper of the year and is currently No. 20 in the country with saves per game.
Looking ahead to the postseason, Georgetown is poised to dominate in the BIG EAST. Friday’s win clinched an undefeated conference season for the Hoyas and the No. 1 seed in the BIG EAST Championships. Georgetown’s win against Villanova was the smallest margin of victory for the Hoyas in all conference play.
To win the BIG EAST, the Hoyas will need to beat the University of Denver on April 30, whom they previously beat 17-5, before facing either Providence College or the University of Villanova in the championship on May 2.
Thanks to their performance this season, the Hoyas are also likely to qualify for the NCAA men’s lacrosse championships. Sixteen teams will make the bracket, and Georgetown can either earn an automatic qualifying bid by winning the BIG EAST Tournament or an at-large bid.
While the Hoyas have a promising postseason ahead of them, almost anything can happen in college sports playoffs. The Hoyas start their, hopefully long, playoff run on April 30 at 4:30 p.m. EST at Providence College against the University of Denver.
