Hoyas Clinch NCAA Berth, Conference Title With Win

Ruthie Braunstein/The Hoya Senior midfielder Tom Tamberrino made his seventh assist of the season against Rutgers.

It all came together.

The Georgetown men’s lacrosse team (11-1, 5-1) beat No. 19 Rutgers 17-5 on Saturday in an impressive offensive and defensive effort clinching the Eastern College Athletic Conference regular season title and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Junior midfielder Steve Dusseau and senior midfielder Scott Doyle led the No. 5 Hoyas’ offense, scoring four goals each. Sophomore defender Brant Gresham was vital to the defensive effort as he shut out Scarlet Knight senior attack Keith Cromwell, considered by many to be the best attackman in the country.

“I thought it was outstanding,” Head Coach Dave Urick said.

The win marked the Hoyas’ second straight ECAC championship and fifth straight NCAA tournament berth.

“We just finally put it together,” Dusseau said.

Throughout the first quarter, the teams seemed to be evenly matched. Doyle, sophomore attack Mike Hammer and senior attack Mike Henehan each scored once in the first period, but Rutgers managed to get two goals past junior goalkeeper Scott Schroeder. The score at the end of the period was 3-2.

The Hoyas opened the second period with a three-goal run in four and a half minutes. Doyle scored first on a pass from Dusseau, and Dusseau scored the next two to put the Hoyas up 6-2. However, the Scarlet Knights answered with three straight goals of their own in the following five minutes to bring them within one goal of the Hoyas. Dusseau ended the half with another goal to make it 7-5.

Dusseau did not wait long to score his fourth straight goal for the Hoyas. Just a minute after the halftime break, he netted a pass from sophomore middie Trevor Walker, putting Georgetown up 8-5.

The Hoyas followed Dusseau’s lead, netting four more goals in the quarter. Senior attack Keith Baker, Hammer, Doyle and Henehan each scored, while the Hoya defense prevented Rutgers from getting on the board in the period.

The Hoyas continued their run into the fourth quarter with Doyle and Walker adding two goals to give the Hoyas a 14-5 lead. The defense stayed strong until Urick put senior goalkeeper Dan Mooney in the net with four minutes remaining. Rutgers scored their only goals of the second half with 1:41 to play and again with 28 seconds to go. However, in between those two goals, senior midfielder Ryan Perraut scored his first career goal, inspiring loud cheers from the Hoya bench.

“The kids held them to two goals in the second half, and they got those two pretty late. It was a great effort defensively. I think all our kids played well defensively,” Urick said.

The Scarlet Knights’ Cromwell, who became the all-time career goals leader for Rutgers in just three years, was held pointless under coverage by Gresham and sophomore defender Pat Collins. Gresham has proven himself to be an outstanding defender throughout the season, shutting out Massachusetts’ leading scorer in the Hoyas’ 13-12 victory last week.

“Gresham shut out arguably one of the best attackmen in the country,” Urick said. “He and Pat Collins both played him all day. Brant was on him the majority of the time, but when Collins got on him, Patrick gave him all he wanted and then some.”

Their defense, combined with Dusseau’s goals, allowed the Hoyas to stay in the game in the first half.

“Steve Dusseau is one of the best players I’ve seen this year. He just gets it done. It was an impressive performance today, and I’ve seen this kid play a lot. And the thing about him is that he plays that way in practice every day. He just plays hard, and that’s just something you have to respect in a young man. He comes to play in practice every day, and obviously it makes a big difference,” Urick said.

Dusseau said he was pleased with the team’s level of play.

“Our offense just came in really well. Everyone was unselfish in the second half, and that’s what I think got us the win today,” Dusseau said. “It just looks like we’re bringing it all together.”

The Hoyas will end the regular season with a tough matchup against defending national champions and vaunted rival No. 2 Syracuse next week. The Hoyas lost to the Orangemen in the 2000 NCAA tournament 17-13 and 24-16 in the regular season.

“I think we match up well with them. They have a very good attack. We have a very good attack. They’re got very good defense. We’ve got very good defense. They’ve got a great goalie. We’ve got a great goalie. So I think all we have to do is stick to coach’s game plan and execute it, and hopefully we’ll come out on top next week,” Doyle said.

Face off against Syracuse will be at 2 p.m. on Harbin field.