MEN’S LAX Georgetown Downs Brown By Tom Kenny Hoya Staff Writer

Charles Nailen/The Hoya Brown freshman attack Chazz Woodson can’t get past the Hoya defense. The Bears fell 16-6.

On some days, everything just comes together.

For the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team, Saturday was one of those days. The No. 4 Hoyas were dominant throughout and cruised to 16-6 victory over No. 19 Brown. Senior midfielder/attack Steve Dusseau and junior midfielder Trevor Walker scored three goals each, and 11 different Hoyas found the net, six of them for the first time this season.

Brown was never really in the game as Georgetown outshot them 32-12 in the first half and 66-27 overall. The Hoyas’ defense was equally stifling as the Bears’ two top scorers were held to only two points on the day. With the win, Georgetown improved to 8-0 while Brown fell to 3-5.

“From one end to the other, it was the most complete game we’ve played all year,” Head Coach Dave Urick said. “There’s not really a whole lot that we can find fault with.”

Things began to turn sour for Brown on its opening offensive possession. Georgetown junior long stick midfielder Kyle Sweeney stripped Brown senior attack Jimmy Mormile, setting the tone for rest of game. Mormile, tied for the team lead in goals, was shut down by Sweeney and the rest of the Georgetown defense, and did not score in the game.

“Sweeney’s an incredible player,” Walker said. “He makes us all better.”

Brown suffered an even costlier blow minutes later when junior midfielder Chas Gessner, its third leading scorer, limped off the field favoring his left ankle and did not return.

“Losing Gessner took a lot of their firepower away,” Urick said.

After numerous scoring opportunities in the early going, the Hoyas finally broke through when Walker ripped a low shot past Brown sophomore goaltender Mike Levin, giving Georgetown a 1-0 lead. Sophomore midfielder Walid Hajj rifled in a shot from the top of the zone with 14 seconds remaining to give the Hoyas a two goal lead after the first quarter.

Brown was able to stay within striking distance in the second quarter thanks largely to Levin’s play in the net. He stopped 12 shots in the first half and 16 in the game. After the Bears narrowed the score to 3-2 midway through the second quarter, the Hoyas began to pull away for good. In what will be one of the more memorable goals of the year, senior goaltender Scott Schroeder launched a pass the length of the field to Dusseau who found Levin out of position and dumped the ball in an empty net. It was the first career point for Schroeder, a three-year starter in goal.

“He definitely meant to do that,” Walker said.

Minutes later, Sweeney scored his first goal of the game and third of the season to give Georgetown a 5-2 lead at halftime. The All-American defender also added two assists Saturday for a career-high of three points. He also scooped up six ground balls to lead the Hoyas to a 56-29 overall advantage.

“I didn’t look to do any more offensively today than I usually do,” Sweeney said. “But when points come, they come.”

In the second half, Levin could not hold off the Hoyas. They exploded for 11 second half goals from nine different players.

“We had a lot of different guys punch it in,” Urick said. “That should give those guys some confidence.”

Walker opened the scoring with an unassisted goal two minutes into the half. Minutes later, junior midfielder Doug Mueller broke through for his first goal of the season off an assist from junior defenseman Brant Gresham. With just over five minutes remaining, senior midfielder Mike Kanach scored his first goal of the season. Just 19 seconds later, Kanach netted a second goal unassisted. Brown rallied to within 9-4 late in the quarter, but Walker scored his third goal of the game with a minute go to give the Hoyas a 10-4 lead entering the final quarter.

In the fourth, several more Hoyas notched their first tallies of the season. Freshman midfielder Dave Paolisso scored his first goal as a Hoya with 11:37 to go in the fourth. Later in the quarter, sophomore midfielder Kevin Shooshan and junior midfielder John Van Benschoten each scored their first goals of the season. Junior attack Jordan Vettoretti, a transfer student in his first year at Georgetown, rounded out the offense for Georgetown by scoring his first career goal in the closing seconds of the game.

The strong showing was even more impressive for the Hoyas considering they were playing on only two days rest. They defeated Bucknell 13-7 on Wednesday.

“All we can do as coaches is ask the players to respond,” Urick said. “And they responded.”

At 8-0, Georgetown continues to better the school record for most wins to start the season. With No. 5 Loyola’s 15-6 loss Saturday to No. 1 Syracuse, the Hoyas are now the only undefeated team in Division I.

“I’m a little surprised we’re undefeated,” Urick said. “We’re getting better as the season goes on and we have some better lax ahead of us.”

Next Saturday Georgetown travels to Geneva, N.Y. to face Hobart. The Statesmen enter the game at 5-4 overall, coming off an 11-10 overtime loss to No. 17 Penn State. They are coached by Matt Kerwick, who spent the last three seasons as assistant coach with the Hoyas.

“We’re working hard and we believe in each other,” Walker said. “Hopefully now we can start peaking.”

Face-off against Hobart is set for 1 p.m. at Boswell Field.