After falling short in an upset attempt against No. 2 Loyola last Wednesday, the Georgetown’s men’s lacrosse team (3-5, 0-1 Big East) will look to get back on track when it travels to Philadelphia to play conference rival Villanova (2-5, 1-0 Big East) on Tuesday.

Losing by one goal to Loyola (8-1, 4-0 Patriot League) was no small feat. The Greyhounds excel in transitional offense and exploit their opponents’ mistakes; however by minimizing turnovers and maintaining possession of the ball for a significant portion of the game, Georgetown was able to neutralize many of Loyola’s scoring opportunities.

The Hoyas were able to set the tempo early in the game with goals from freshman midfielder Devon Lewis and redshirt senior defender and co-captain Tyler Knarr, resulting in a 2-0 lead within the first minute of play. In addition, Knarr won six of the first seven faceoffs of the game, allowing the Hoyas to control possession for much of the first quarter. The game remained tight throughout though=, with the lead changing hands four times. It was victory was ultimately decided in the final minute of the fourth quarter when Loyola notched what would be the final goal of its 10-9 victory.

Although it ended in defeat, the game was indicative of the strides that Georgetown has made thus far this season. Georgetown Head Coach Kevin Warne was encouraged by the efforts he saw on the field both in the game on Wednesday and in the following days during practice.

“The guys seem focused and realize how close they are,” Warne said. “They realize that they can control Tuesday night [by working] Thursday through Monday during practice. Practice has been very good, very energetic and very competitive, which I’m very encouraged by.”

Georgetown will now hope to continue the high level of play as it prepares to face Villanova. By maintaining the intensity that fueled the teams performance against Loyola during practice, Warne believes that his players will be well prepared to face off against the Wildcats.

“They see the light at the end of the tunnel, realizing that if they practice hard during the week and do all of the little things, our chances of winning are much better,” Warne said.

Villanova will take the field Tuesday after breaking a four-game losing streak with a 10-8 victory over Big East opponent Marquette on Saturday. Though the Wildcats have been struggling to climb above .500, their losses have come at the hands of worthy opponents. Villanova has the ninth strongest schedule in the nation, and five of the seven games it has played have been against ranked opponents. In addition, six of the seven games have been decided by two goals or less, including a 12-10 loss to No. 1 Maryland.

Just as Georgetown did against Loyola, Villanova has learned to maximize its offensive opportunities against tough competition. The Wildcats possess a fluid and adaptable offense led by talented attack, Johnny Gallaway, who had a hat trick against Marquette.

Warne knows that while the Hoyas can expect intensity from the Wildcats’ attack, it will be more difficult to anticipate how they will execute the offense.

“I think that Villanova plays a little differently than some of our other opponents,” Warne said. “They are very aggressive all over the field, and they have an offense that includes a lot of motion. We just have to do a lot of little things. Whereas some of the other teams … [will have a player who] is going to dodge and run by you in very scripted movements, these are going to be very unscripted movements. It kind of reminds me of pickup basketball.”

Georgetown’s defense will need to match Villanova’s fluidity in order to stop it. With quick decision-making and constant awareness, off-ball defenders will put themselves in good positioning to respond to scoring threats.

Warne believes that this can be accomplished if the defenders work together to perform as a cohesive unit.

“We just have to do a good job of communicating with one another and understanding what our roles are, and just do a good job of protecting the guy playing the dodger,” Warne said.

This will mark the second conference game of the season for the Hoyas; Georgetown fell 15-7 to St. John’s in its Big East opener March 15. The result will go a long way toward determining whether the Hoyas can accomplish one of their primary goals — reaching the postseason for a second consecutive season.

After Wednesday’s performance, Warne has renewed hopes in reaching that task.

“I think they saw that they have the ability and the potential to beat anybody,” Warne said.