After dropping its past four games, the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team (3-7, 0-3 Big East) is hoping to get back on track with a win against conference rival Providence College (3-8, 0-2 Big East) on Saturday.

Though the Hoyas are mired in a losing streak, they have played well at times, especially in a loss to No. 1 Loyola Maryland on March 19. Georgetown displayed a commanding offensive presence, establishing a two-goal lead twice during the course of the game; in addition, the game was tied in the final minute. Although Loyola was ultimately victorious, Georgetown’s impressive performance was a vast improvement over its 15-7 loss in the conference opener against St. John’s and seemed to be a sign of good things to come.

Unfortunately, the intensity that the Hoyas demonstrated in the loss against the Greyhounds diminished over the course of the following week. First, Georgetown fell 13-8 to Villanova and then to No. 6 Big East newcomer Denver by a final of 17-9.

In this most recent loss to Denver, Georgetown struggled to capitalize on its offensive possessions. Although redshirt senior defender and co-captain Tyler Knarr won 20-of-27 faceoffs against Denver, Georgetown was unable to capitalize on these possessions and lost by eight goals.

Head Coach Kevin Warne says that the Hoyas have been working toward achieving this goal during practice.

“We just went back to lacrosse camp a little bit [during] the past couple days,” Warne said. “I think it’s been good just teaching the guys tempo, and we have to create, sometimes, a sense of urgency. Sometimes we lose focus in the game. We have to make sure that we’re able to practice [fixing] that, and the best way to do that is to just force some urgency. …It just makes the guys think faster, and they can anticipate and react a little bit faster as well.”

Providence will be playing with the same sense of urgency as Georgetown on Saturday; both teams are winless in the Big East this season and will be battling to reach the Big East tournament.

The Friars have several dangerous offensive players that could present a challenge for the Hoyas. Senior midfielder Andrew Barton currently leads Providence with 36 points and senior attack Sean Wright follows closely in second with 34 points. Barton and Wright’s leadership is balanced by underclassmen talent; freshman attack Alex Corboy and freshman midfielder Joseph Fitzpatrick have stepped up, notching 19 and 15 points, respectively.

Georgetown will need to be up to the task of staying with the Providence offense. Warne is encouraged by the efforts that he has seen during practice, and he believes that his players understand the importance of good decision-making when playing against the Friars.

“I think because of what we’ve done in practice…it forces you to make better decisions,” Warne said. “It forces you to concentrate a little bit more because you’re not sure if you’re going to get the ball back in some of our drills. …We’ve scored as many goals in practice as we have in a couple weeks, so it’s been encouraging.”

After the loss against Denver, Warne said that the postseason has essentially begun for the Hoyas. The Big East tournament features only four of the seven teams in the league and Georgetown is currently in last place with only three conference games remaining.

“The pressure is on, so to speak — we’re not going to hide from it,” Warne said. “We know what’s in front of us and we know what our goal is at the end of the year, but we have to take care of everything day by day in order to hopefully extend our season. But our guys know that it’s crunch time now.”