Charles Nailen/The Hoya Sophomore attack Neal Goldman had three points in the Hoyas 16-13 to UMass loss Saturday.

After narrowly missing the NCAA Tournament in 2001, the University of Massachusetts was determined not to miss it again. With a chance to clinch their first NCAA Tournament berth since 1997 with a win against Georgetown, the No. 8 Minutemen built a large early lead and held on at the for a 16-13 upset victory over the No. 5 Hoyas before a capacity crowd of 2,153 at Harbin Field Saturday.

UMass improved to 10-2 overall and clinched at least a share of the ECAC Conference title. More importantly, the Minutemen locked up the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by virtue of their head-to-head victory over the Hoyas. Georgetown, the lone undefeated team in Division I going into the game, fell to 9-1. The loss spoiled the final appearance at home for Georgetown’s six seniors.

“We knew the whole season came down to this game,” UMass freshman goalie Bill Schell said. “We came together and we won.” They won in no small part because of Schell, who posted a career-high 19 saves on the day.

It was only natural that the Minutemen would have this matchup with the Hoyas circled on their calendars all season. Despite a 12-2 record in 2001, UMass fell 13-12 to Georgetown, missed out on the conference’s automatic qualifier and did not receive an at-large bid. On Saturday, it had a chance to erase some of the painful memories of 2001.

“Our guys knew what was on the line here,” UMass Head Coach Greg Cannella said. “It was really important for them to come out here and prove to Georgetown that we were in the game.”

The Minutemen came out flying. In the first four minutes, they built a 4-0 lead while denying the Hoyas any chance of a sustained offensive attack. Junior attack Kevin Leveille scored two of his team-high four goals during the initial UMass run.

“They just came out more fired up,” Georgetown senior attack Steve Dusseau said. “Leadership-wise, we didn’t do our job.”

A Georgetown timeout helped to break the UMass momentum somewhat and senior attack Doug Staab’s goal off an assist from sophomore attack Neal Goldman put the Hoyas on the scoreboard midway through the opening quarter. However, the Minutemen would launch another offensive run before the quarter ended. Four different Minutemen scored in a five minute span to give them a commanding 8-1 lead. Goldman scored an extra-man goal with just over a minute remaining to cut the UMass to lead to 8-2 at the end of what was easily the worst quarter the Hoyas had played all year.

“[UMass] played hard, took it to us early and executed very well,” Georgetown Head Coach Dave Urick said.

In the second quarter, Georgetown began to try to come back from the largest deficit it had faced all season. Dusseau finally broke through, scoring three, while Staab added his second goal. Georgetown was able to control possession for much of the quarter and actually ended up outshooting UMass 32-20 in the half. The Hoya defense, porous in the first quarter, clamped down in the second and allowed only one goal but Georgetown still trailed 9-6 at the half.

The Minutemen offense woke up in the third quarter. Once again, four different players scored. Junior midfielder Trevor Walker kept the Hoyas in the game, scoring three times. Senior midfielder Phil Vincenti scored in the closing seconds to give Georgetown some momentum going into the final quarter. However, the Hoyas had still found themselves trailing by three, 13-10.

Desperation began to take hold for the Hoyas in the final quarter as they could get no closer than two goals. Dusseau and Walker each scored their fourth goals but Leveille added his fourth for UMass to keep its lead at two goals. The Hoyas closed to within 15-13 with 9:20 remaining in the fourth quarter but could never get any closer. The UMass defense, led by senior All-American Matt cFarland, forced Georgetown into countless long range and low-percentage shots as the quarter continued. On the day, Georgetown shot the ball 66 times compared to 32 by UMass but less than half of those 66 shots were on goal.

“We tried to crawl out of the hole a bit,” Urick said. “But it wasn’t going to happen.”

Those shots that were on target were repeatedly turned aside by Schell, who only took over the starting goalie job at midseason. With exactly a minute remaining, UMass senior midfielder Marc orley found Georgetown senior goalie Scott Schroeder out of position and dumped the final goal into an empty net. It was a rough day for Schroeder and the entire Georgetown defense that had been so strong all year. Schroeder made only 11 saves while allowing 16 goals, well above his season average.

The goal capped off the win for the Minutemen, who erupted in celebration once time expired.

“To come out and perform like we did on their home field, it’s an impressive performance,” Cannella said.

The Hoyas must quickly recover to play at No. 10 Loyola Wednesday afternoon. The game takes on even greater significance as Georgetown is now fighting for one of six at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament and can use another quality win.

“We just have to put this one behind us,” Dusseau said. “Loyola’s a huge game.”

Face-off is set for 4 p.m. in Baltimore.