Charles Nailen/The Hoya Junior midfielder Walid Hajj scores in sudden-death overtime to give Georgetown the win.
It was the kind of intense, hard-fought game that people have come to expect when Georgetown and Duke get together on the lacrosse field – the kind they have witnessed at every meeting of the two teams over the last several years. Once again, the Hoyas had just enough to come away with the well-earned victory.
With just over two minutes remaining in the first sudden-death overtime period, Georgetown junior midfielder Walid Hajj whipped a pass through the Duke defensive zone to senior attackman Jordan Vettoretti who stood just on the edge of the crease. Vettoretti then slipped a shot past Duke senior goalie A. J. Kincel and into the top left corner of the net to give the No. 4 Hoyas a 6-5 victory over the No. 11 Blue Devils before a crowd of 1,801 at Harbin Field Sunday afternoon. It was Georgetown’s third straight victory over rival Duke and the fourth in the last five meetings between the two schools. With the win, Georgetown improved to 5-0 in 2003. Duke fell to 6-3.
“It’s one for the time capsule,” Georgetown Head Coach Dave Urick said. “These two teams bring out a lot of intensity. The kids gave a great effort. They had a great setting, a great crowd and they played against a great team.”
The game will be remembered for Hajj and Vettoretti’s play in overtime, but the Hoyas never would have been in position to win there if not for the play of their defense for the entire game. The offense sputtered somewhat as the Georgetown midfielders and attackmen were only able to find the net six times on 44 shots. Only 21, however, of those 44 shots were on net, and Kincel played well in goal for the blue Devils, recording 15 saves. The Hoyas also hit the pipes on three different shots during the game. Georgetown went more than 20 minutes in the third and fourth quarter without scoring a goal.
The Georgetown defense, though, never allowed the Duke offense to make any sort of run of its own. All-American senior defenseman Brant Gresham returned after missing the last two games with a groin injury and his presence strengthened an already solid unit. For the second year in a row, senior long stick midfielder Kyle Sweeney held in check Duke’s top offensive threat, All-American midfielder Kevin Cassese, holding him to only two goals. Junior defenseman Pat Collins limited another one of the Blue Devils top scorers, sophomore attackman Matt Rewkowski, to only one goal in the game.
“The defense kept its composure and our offense kept firing away,” Georgetown sophomore goalie Rich D’Andrea said. “Luckily we got a couple past them.”
D’Andrea helped the defense with a strong game of his own, stopping 10 of Duke’s 15 shots on net.
“Our goalie held us in there the whole game,” Vettoretti said.
It was a back and forth game throughout, with neither team ever able to establish a lead of more than two goals. Rewkowski opened the scoring with a goal eight minutes into the first quarter. The Hoyas answered right back though as sophomore midfielder Andy Corno won the ensuing faceoff and burst down field. He fired a shot into the back of the net after just two seconds had elapsed from Rewkowski’s goal. Corno continued his sound play in the faceoff circle, winning nine of 14 draws in the game.
After a goal from junior midfielder Mike Boynton and two from Hajj, the Hoyas built a 4-2 lead late in the second half. Duke chipped away at the lead and tied the game going into the fourth quarter. The Blue Devils took the lead on a Cassese goal with 12:41 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Hoyas tied it later in the quarter when Vettoretti fed senior attack Mike Hammer. Neither team was able to score in the last several minutes of regulation, setting the stage for Hajj and Vettoretti’s overtime heroics.
The Hoyas travel to Annapolis, Md., to face Navy on Sunday in conference play.
