Despite entering the season as the No. 12 squad in the country, Georgetown University’s men’s lacrosse team fell 18-10 to the Loyola University Maryland Greyhounds in their season opener on Feb. 3. 

After Georgetown fell behind early, an onslaught of goals from Loyola squashed any chance of a comeback. Although the Hoyas entered the second half down only 4 goals, Georgetown was unable to crawl back into the game.

The Hoyas (0-1) began the game on the right foot, with sophomore attacker and reigning Big East Freshman of the Year Patrick Crogan making a smooth spin move and drilling a shot past the Loyola (1-0) goalie just over a minute into the game. 

Unfortunately, this shot seemed to enliven the Greyhounds, as they proceeded to pour 4 unanswered goals past the Hoyas over the next 10 minutes to take a 4-1 lead. 

The barrage of scoring finally ended when sophomore midfielder Jordan Wray drove left and ripped a shot into the top corner of the net to make it 4-2. The teams traded goals to end the quarter, with senior attacker Aidan Carroll making a shifty move to his right and slotting the ball past the goalie to pull the Hoyas back within two, a 5-3 deficit. 

Unfortunately for Georgetown, Loyola appeared to make some tactical adjustments during the break. To open the second quarter, the Greyhounds scored 3 unanswered goals, putting the Hoyas on their heels.

With the score 8-3, Wray came to the rescue again, scoring 2 goals within a minute of each other to bring the Hoyas back into the game. After trading goals over the final minutes of the half, the teams entered halftime with the Greyhounds leading 10-6.

The third and fourth quarters were much of the same for the Hoyas. Although the team had some strong offensive stints, it could not contain the quick and composed Greyhounds. 

Wray scored yet again early in the third quarter, collecting a groundball at midfield and quickly faking to his left before sprinting to his right, placing a stinger of a shot into the top left corner. However, Loyola responded with 2 goals of its own in quick succession. Crogan scored his second of the day to bring the Hoyas within 5 late in the third, converting after a stutter step that landed a Greyhound defender on the turf. 

Loyola opened the scoring in the fourth quarter, keeping the distance between themselves and the Hoyas. Despite Georgetown’s best efforts, the lead was too large to mount a comeback. To put a stamp on the victory, the Greyhounds scored the final 3 goals of the game, cementing their 18-10 victory. 

Despite the tough loss to begin the season, the sophomore duo of Wray and Crogan flashed its immense potential. Wray led the way for the Hoyas with 5 goals, making a strong case for a permanent starter role. Crogan also showed off his skills, as his quick first step and ability to effectively shoot in the corners with both hands led him to a 2 goal day.

Crogan would have ended the game with a hat trick had his would-be second goal not been overturned by the newly implemented instant replay system. Installed in the wake of public backlash surrounding Duke’s controversial victory over Penn State in last year’s national semifinals over a missed penalty, the system revealed that Crogan illegally fell into the crease surrounding the goal.

Senior attacker TJ Haley put in a strong all-around game, scoring once and assisting on 2 Hoya goals. Graduate student Alexander Vardaro, scoring once and assisting once, had a similarly solid performance, as did his fellow graduate student, faceoff man James Ball, who was terrific in converting on 16-of-22 faceoff attempts.

Georgetown hopes that its key players will bounce back in their next game. 

Top dog graduate student Graham Bundy Jr., who established himself as one of the best midfielders in the nation as a junior, struggled greatly as Loyola’s defense focused on him and limited him to 0 points. The defense also gave up 41 shots, doing first-year goalkeeper Anderson Moore no favors in his first collegiate game.

The Hoyas will look to bounce back from this tough loss on Feb. 10 in their home opener against No. 5 Johns Hopkins at Cooper Field.