Pete and Brendan Cannon tallied two goals apiece to lead the Hoyas to a 7-4 win over conference rival Loyola Saturday afternoon at North Kehoe Field.

The brothers, hailing from Haverford, Pa., powered the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team to victory in a defensive struggle, with junior midfielder Pete Cannon beating a Loyola defenseman one-on-one to go up 6-4 with 1:46 to play.

Georgetown turned out a solid effort late in the game. With a one-goal lead, the Hoyas clamped down defensively and prevented the Greyhounds from putting anything together after a Loyola timeout at 3:47 in the fourth quarter.

Junior defenseman John Trapp came up with a huge clear with just under three minutes remaining to set up Cannon’s goal, which effectively ended any chances of a Loyola comeback.

The Hoyas (8-2, 3-0 ECAC) outpaced the Greyhounds (4-5, 3-2 ECAC) in groundballs, 39-28. Both teams were held scoreless on a combined seven extra-man opportunities.

“Our defense put the ball on the ground a lot,” senior goalie Rich D’Andrea said. “They [the Greyhounds] didn’t get any decent looks at the goal.”

D’Andrea had six saves in the complete game performance. His counterpart, junior Michael Fretwell, made 14 stops on the afternoon.

Senior defenseman Brodie Merrill bolstered the Georgetown defense, recording 10 groundballs. The Hoyas also allowed just 22 shots, compared to their 57-shot onslaught at the other end of the field.

“Loyola likes to take it to the cage pretty hard,” Head Coach Dave Urick said. “We just had to rely on good solid defense.”

Senior midfielder Andy Corno, who has spent the past few weeks recovering from a groin injury, had one of the most successful games of his career to take pressure off his defense. Corno went 11-for-15 on faceoff opportunities, shaking off his early-season sluggishness. The Hoyas did not lose a faceoff until well into the third quarter.

“I’ve finally hit my stride a little bit,” Corno said. “I’m coming back and getting healthy at the right time.”

Georgetown proved early in the match that the Loyola defensive unit would have its hands full, outshooting the Greyhounds 13-7 in the first 15 minutes of play. Freshman attack Brendan Cannon scored the first goal of the match late in the first quarter, his third of the season.

Loyola tied the game with 3:31 to play in the first half as sophomore midfielder Andrew Spack beat D’Andrea on an assist from freshman attack Shane Koppens.

The clubs were tied going into halftime, but Pete Cannon regained the lead for the Hoyas just after intermission. Georgetown scored nearly five minutes later to extend its lead to two as Brendan Cannon tallied an unassisted goal.

The Hoyas opened their widest lead of the day, a 5-2 edge, 10 seconds into the closing quarter as Merrill picked up a groundball off the faceoff and raced down the field and scored past Fretwell.

The Greyhounds rallied to close the margin to one goal, but Pete Cannon’s second score locked up the Hoyas’ fourth consecutive win.

Senior midfielder Brice Queener added one more goal for insurance with just under a minute to play, taking advantage of an empty-net opportunity.

The victory was the Hoyas’ fourth straight over the Greyhounds, who fell to 3-2 in the conference and 4-5 overall.

Georgetown also climbed to No. 3 in the latest Inside Lacrosse edia Poll, the program’s highest national ranking since April 2003.

The Hoyas leapt past Army and Virginia, teams which both suffered defeats over the weekend. No. 2 Duke trounced Virginia by a 17-2 margin, and fifth-ranked Navy nabbed a 12-9 win from the Black Knights.

Georgetown travels to Amherst, Mass., to face the University of assachusetts (8-2, 3-1 ECAC) on Saturday. The ninth-ranked inutemen dropped their only conference loss of the season to Loyola, a 6-5 decision, on March 26.