WOMEN’S LAX Hoyas Take Tribe No. 2 Georgetown Still Going Strong By Derek Richmond Hoya Staff Writer

Charles Nailen/The Hoya Freshman midfielder Allison Chambers keeps the ball away from a Tribe defender.

The No. 2 Georgetown women’s lacrosse team has not struggled much this year. But when it has, poor play on offense has often been a factor. In their one loss this season to No. 4 North Carolina, the Hoyas could mange only one goal in the final 15 minutes of play.

Recently though, poor offense has not been a problem for the Hoyas. Tuesday, Georgetown routed the College of William & Mary 21-12. It was the second straight game Georgetown scored more than 20 goals.

The Hoyas utilized a balanced and high-powered offensive attack to subdue the Tribe, who fall to 5-10 with the loss. Senior attack Erin Elbe scored five goals and tallied two assists, while junior attack Wick Stanwick chipped in four goals.

But the Hoya defense could not match the offensive intensity and, despite six saves from senior goalkeeper Chandler Vicchio, allowed the Tribe a dozen goals.

“I was definitely pleased with the overall effort,” Head Coach Kim Simons said. “I think we need some work defensively. I think teams are scoring too many goals on us and a little too easily. We just need to change our attitude, and everyone on the field needs to step up defensively a little bit better.”

The Tribe won the opening draw and eventually scored the first goal of the contest. Trailing 1-0 after less than four minutes of play, the Hoyas’ offense responded. Elbe scored the first of her five goals, but Tribe freshman Morgan Watkins answered with the first of her four goals on the day.

The two teams combined for nine goals in the first 10 minutes. The Hoyas scored four consecutive goals, including Elbe’s second, to take a 5-2 lead. Watkins kept the Tribe in the game, however. She scored her second and third goals in less than 20 seconds to cut the Georgetown lead to one.

The Hoyas came back with two of their own before the Tribe scored again. From there, Georgetown went on another run. Sophomore midfielders Anouk Peters and Gloria Lozano each capitalized on a free position shots as part of a 4-0 run. The Tribe tried to climb back into the game but could only put up one goal before time ran out on the clock. Georgetown led 11-6 at the half.

Suffering from the intense heat of the 90-degree afternoon, the Hoyas spent the break in Yates Memorial Fieldhouse, discussing the first half. They spent a few extra minutes in air-conditioned comfort, and the game officials assessed a penalty for being late for the start of the second period. William & Mary scored first in the second half but would not score again for 11 minutes.

During the Tribe’s drought, the Hoyas scored twice. The second goal came off of the draw following the first, as junior midfielder Liz Ryan found Stanwick who found the back of the net. The Tribe attempted to jump start their offense with fifteen minutes left scoring once. But the Hoyas struck back with more unanswered goals to put the game away.

What would have been a seven-goal streak was interrupted once by a Tribe tally. With the score at 21-9, the Tribe offense kicked into gear to score three unanswered, but it was too little, too late as the Hoyas rolled to the victory.

Georgetown outshot the Tribe 43-20, and eight players contributed goals for the Hoyas. Elbe’s five tallies led all scorers.

“I wouldn’t have had that kind of success if our attack weren’t playing as well as we are,” Elbe said. “Everybody is helping out everybody else, everybody is stepping up, everybody is a threat. The [opposition’s] defense doesn’t really know who to guard, so that makes it easier on me.”

Georgetown will need to maintain the scoring prowess it has demonstrated all season long if the Hoyas hope to repeat last year’s run to the NCAA Championship. Also, the team’s defense will need to limit the scoring of its opponents in order to overcome the powerful offenses it will face in the tournament and win the program’s first national title.

“We need to play as one whole unit. When the attack plays well, the defense needs to play well and vice versa,” Stanwick said. “We’ve had a few games where the attack hasn’t stepped up, and the defense has played really well, and then when the attack has been playing well, the defense hasn’t been.”

The Hoyas, undefeated in conference play, take on Big East foe No. 9 Notre Dame tomorrow. The Fighting Irish (9-3) are tied with the Hoyas for first place in the Big East, as they are also 4-0 in conference play.

“Whoever wins that game has a very good shot at winning the conference, and we’re going to have to put together a full 60 minutes of great lacrosse to win on Saturday,” Simons said.

The game will be the Hoyas’ final home contest of the season, and the team’s six seniors will be recognized.

First draw tomorrow is scheduled for noon on Kehoe field.