Hoyas Storm Past Patriots

Dan Gelfand/The Hoya Just like the Penn State game, shown above, Georgetown blew by local foe George Mason on Thursday.

Georgetown women’s lacrosse rolled to another dominating victory over a top-20 team, defeating George Mason 17-4 yesterday afternoon. No one scored more than three goals for the Hoyas, but the team’s third consecutive win was never in doubt after the opening minutes.

The win pushes the record of No. 3 Georgetown to 11-2 on the season (5-0 Big East) as the Hoyas enter the homestretch of the regular season. Georgetown has a trio of home games remaining against James Madison, Princeton and Connecticut, and three wins should ensure the Hoyas one of the top four seeds in the NCAA tournament and the opportunity to host two home games.

Yesterday’s matchup was one-sided on paper, and it quickly became that way on the field as the Hoyas’ relentless attack struck early and often against the beleaguered Patriots defense. Senior All-American Sheehan Stanwick scored in the opening minute of the contest, one of her three goals on the afternoon, and Georgetown had scored seven more goals before George Mason (7-8) even lit up the scoreboard for the first time.

The Patriots’ first score came just before the half and left the score at the break 8-1, Hoyas. George Mason opened the second half with their second straight goal, however, Georgetown went on another run started by one of sophomore Elizabeth Ryan’s two goals on the afternoon. The four-goal run put the score at 12-2, closing the door on George Mason’s aspiration for an upset.

The Hoyas engaged cruise control at that point and finished up with a 17-4 blowout win. Attackers Erin Elbe and Wick Stanwick led the team with five points apiece, with Elbe scoring a pair of goals and dishing out three assists while Wick found the back of the net three times and handed out two assists. Junior Kate Ahearn was also integral to Georgetown’s dominating offensive performance, beating George Mason goalie Jamie Tiburzi three times for a hat trick.

Senior All-American Bowen Holden continues to be solid in net for Georgetown, giving up four goals while stopping four shots despite her knee injury. Junior Chandler Vicchio finished off the contest with 11 shutout minutes and has been impressive coming off the bench to rest Holden.

The Hoyas dominated the game from a statistical standpoint, taking 30 shots to the Patriots’ 16 and covering almost twice as many ground balls while forcing four more turnovers. George ason simply did not have the speed or stick skills to match up with Georgetown, and the Hoyas’ domination was evident in both the game’s pace and the final margin on the scoreboard.

Georgetown finishes off the regular season by playing host to a trio of opponents. Next up is James Madison on Sunday at 1 p.m. on Kehoe Field.

Following that contest is a matchup with Connecticut on Tuesday. A Hoya win against Connecticut would give Georgetown the Big East’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, despite Georgetown most likely already wrapping up an at-large bid to the tourney.