Charles Nailen/The Hoya Senior midfielder Walid Hajj and junior midfielder Andy Corno rush for a ground ball in the team’s 10-5 win.
Despite light drizzle and temperatures in the high 30s, the No. 6 Hoyas prevented Delaware from establishing a steady offensive presence, paving the way for a 10-5 Georgetown victory Wednesday afternoon on Harbin Field.
Senior attack Neal Goldman and senior midfielder Walid Hajj each had three goals in the first 30 minutes of play, accounting for all but one of Georgetown’s seven first-half scores. Hajj found the back of the net another time late in the third quarter for his game-high fourth goal.
With four straight goals to close out the second quarter, Georgetown did not need much offensive output after the intermission. But while junior midfielder Andy Corno, sophomore midfielder Peter Cannon and junior attack Mat Wilson all managed to tally second-half goals, Urick said he was still anxious about his team’s lack of late-game scoring – a concern echoed by team captain Hajj.
“We weren’t hitting our shots like we could. We should’ve had a lot more goals than that,” he said.
The Hoyas controlled the tempo of the game, keeping the ball in offensive territory for long stretches of time. Unlike its opponent, Georgetown managed to put plenty of pressure on the Blue Hens’ defense, getting off 47 shots. Delaware had just 18.
“[Georgetown] took us out of our game,” Blue Hens’ Head Coach Bob Shillinglaw said. “They took advantage of second chances and dropped balls in the middle of the field.”
Hajj and Cannon, positioned at the top of the offensive zone, led the Hoyas in shots with eight and seven, respectively.
“I got off lots of standstill shots from the outside,” Hajj said. “There wasn’t so much dodging. The other guys were drawing double teams. We were finding people up top for the open shot.”
The Blue Hens hardly had the same luxury, playing the ball behind the net and failing to penetrate the Georgetown defense. When they did manage to position themselves in front of the net, they were successful at scoring. Senior attack Matt Alrich tallied two goals.
“We were inverting behind, and they extended the perimeter on us pretty wide,” Shillinglaw said. “We were having difficulty just running by a guy.”
Aside from its offensive woes, Delaware also struggled to hurt all game, though by the fourth quarter most of the violations were rooted in frustration. Four came with the contest already out of reach – two committed by junior defenseman Ian Wright.
The Hoyas’ only real test of the afternoon came on faceoffs, but Corno, who ranks second on Georgetown’s all-time faceoff wins list, received plenty of help from his wingmen. Junior defender Brodie Merrill, junior midfielder Brice Queener and sophomore midfielder Wes Trice backed up Corno, a 2004 Faceoff Yearbook First Team All-American. As usual, the Hoyas dominated in faceoffs, taking 14 of 18.
“This was going to be [Corno’s] biggest test all year,” Head Coach Dave Urick said. “Wingplay on the faceoff is awfully important. It’s the first time they actually played a big part of the game.”
Urick used the game to test his bench, rotating in more players than any of the team’s previous three contests this season. Georgetown’s scoring margin allowed backup senior goaltender Andrew Owen to relieve sophomore Rich D’Andrea for the game’s final 10 minutes.
“We took more advantage of our depth.” Urick said. “We try to get [Owen] in whenever we can. He’s a presence on the sidelines.”
Urick also said he was happy with his team’s performance in a midweek game. “It’s a completely different atmosphere,” he added.
Only 312 fans were in attendance, down from 1,500 at the March 6 matchup with Cornell and 2,743 at the season opener against aryland.
Wednesday’s meeting was the third all-time between the two teams. The Hoyas have won all three.
Georgetown plays host to Hobart tomorrow. The opening faceoff is slated for 2 p.m.
