Hoyas Play Well, Can’t Top Terps

Hoya File Photo/The Hoya Sheehan Stanwick, shown in action last season above, has continued to post MVP caliber marks. She had four goals against the Terps.

Georgetown had the guts, but as usual, top-ranked and undefeated aryland had the glory in the Terrapins’ 13-9 victory over the Hoyas last Thursday. Although largely successful in their quest to control the ball, the No. 5-ranked Hoyas were unable to slow the speedy Terrapins attack and Maryland pulled away in the second half.

Senior Sheehan, sophomore Wick Stanwick and junior Erin Elbe combined for all of Georgetown’s points, as the rest of the attack failed to get involved. On the other side, senior Maryland star Jen Adams led the Terps with six goals and four assists, dominating play at the offensive end of the field, while the normally-stellar Georgetown attack was unable to respond.

“When people start scrambling, she [Jen Adams] always seems to be in the right place at the right time,” Head Coach Kim Simons said. “She’s going to end up with the ball in her stick nine times out of 10, and nine times out of 10 she’s going to put the ball in the back of the net.”

When Adams wasn’t scoring, she was setting up her teammates on a series of quick-strike goals off turnovers keeping the Hoyas (8-2, 4-0 Big East) from staying even with the Terrapins.

“Eighteen turnovers they converted into eight goals,” Simons said. “That right there is the game. I didn’t feel our intensity or execution was at the level it needed to be.”

Despite the lack of execution, Georgetown was in the game until the closing minutes of what turned out to be a very physical contest. The Hoyas came out looking to control the ball against the Terrapins and were the first to light up the scoreboard on a Sheehan Stanwick one-on-one tally.

Maryland followed with a three-goal run that quieted the crowd of more than 1,000, but the Hoyas were far from ready to concede defeat. Stanwick and Elbe scored back-to-back goals to even the score at three with 12 minutes remaining in the first half.

The Terrapins responded by going on a 6-1 run over the course of the next 20 minutes to take a virtually insurmountable 9-4 lead with 20:43 remaining in the game.

“Maryland does a very nice job of making you make mistakes if you’re not smart,” Simon said. “They take chances and make your team think about what you’re doing when you’re handling the ball. They’re the kind of team that exposes your weaknesses, and they did a nice job of that against us.”

Facing a five-goal deficit, Georgetown’s run was sparked by Sheehan Stanwick, who led the Hoyas to three consecutive scores with a goal and a pair of assists. In the process, however, Elbe was sidelined with an ankle sprain after scoring the goal that narrowed the margin to 9-6.

“Elbe had a pretty bad sprain, but she’s looking to be back at full strength this weekend,” Simons said. However, the sprain was not enough to keep All-American Elbe out of the game.

After Maryland’s Jen Adams scored her fifth goal of the game, Elbe came back to net her third on the afternoon at 7:20 to pull Georgetown within two goals, at 10-8. This was as close as the Hoyas would get, though, as Maryland tallied three more goals and finished with a 13-9 win.

“It was good to see that our team didn’t give up,” Simons said.

In the net, senior All-American Bowen Holden continued to battle valiantly despite her ACL injury, coming up with five saves while allowing 12 goals.

“She [Holden] played better at the end of the second half when she was kind of injured,” Simons said. “It takes a lot of courage for her to get back out there at such a mental position while having such a major injury.”

Georgetown returns to action today when No. 12 Penn State visits Kehoe Field at 3 p.m.

“We have very strong leadership and our seniors have made the decision that they want to continue to move forward,” Simons said. “We need to play better and work harder if we want to accomplish the goals we set for ourselves.

“Penn State was a real thorn in our side last year,” Simons said about the Hoyas’ tough 16-13 road loss at the hands of the Nittany Lions. “That game left a real sour taste in our mouth. I think it’s been good for us to have had over a week between games. We harbored the frustration of the loss until Tuesday. I’ve really seen the team take a turn for the positive and I’m looking forward to the game on Friday.”