After picking up its first Big East victory of the year over Providence at home last Saturday, the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team dropped a close non-conference battle to No. 9 Loyola Maryland at home Tuesday. The Hoyas have dropped four of their last five games, despite a 6-0 start to the season.

Against the Providence Friars (4-7, 1-1 Big East), sophomore attack Jake Carraway scored four of Georgetown’s (7-4, 1-2 Big East) eight goals. Senior midfielder Craig Berge added a goal and two assists, while junior attack Daniel Bucaro assisted three Georgetown goals. Junior midfielder Lucas Wittenberg, senior attack Matt Behrens and junior attack Austin McDonald each tallied a goal. Wittenberg and Behrens also had an assist apiece.

McDonald’s goal came just 41 seconds after the opening faceoff. The Hoyas then traded six straight goals with the Friars, leading 4-3 at the half. Out of the break, Georgetown took command, scoring four of the five goals in the final 30 minutes to win 8-4.

With his first assist of the game, Berge notched his 100th career point: He is the 22nd player at Georgetown to have achieved this benchmark and is now 14th all-time in assists.

Against Loyola (8-3, 5-1 Big East), the offense scored again eight goals. Bucaro struck first, scoring the first goal of the game. He led the charge throughout the game with two goals and three assists. When Georgetown conceded two consecutive goals, McDonald and Berge responded with two goals of their own just 90 seconds apart.

Both McDonald and Behrens notched three goals in the contest. Berge and Carraway added an assist each, while Berge also scored a goal.

A quiet second quarter hurt Georgetown, and Loyola jumped to a 7-4 lead at halftime. The Greyhounds maintained their three-goal lead throughout the match despite a late surge from the Hoyas and won 11-8.

Defensively, senior goalie Nick Marrocco had two impressive performances in the cage. He collected twelve saves against the Friars on Saturday, allowing only four goals. He followed that performance up with six saves against the Greyhounds on Tuesday.  For the sixth time in his career and the second time this season, Marrocco was awarded Big East Defensive Player of the Week for his play against Providence.

Freshman defenseman Gibson Smith scooped a team-high six ground balls against Loyola alone. He leads all Hoya defenders with 42 on the season. However, the Georgetown defense that stifled Providence faltered when facing one of the nation’s most powerful offenses in Loyola. The Greyhound attack — led by junior Pat Spencer and senior Jay Drapeau who combined for six goals and five assists — found the back of the net 11 times.

Georgetown will go on the road to face No. 13 Villanova (8-3, 1-1 Big East) in Big East action on Saturday. With the Big East tournament quickly approaching, the matchup against Villanova will be a pivotal match as Georgetown seeks to make a final push in its last three games.