Senior attack Nick Miaritis tallied a career-high four goals to lead the Hoyas to an 11-6 victory over Navy in one of the most distressing games in the history of Georgetown athletics.

Playing at Annapolis, Md., the then-No. 7 Hoyas and the then-No. 6 Midshipmen got through one quarter of play on Saturday afternoon. iaritis and sophomore attack Trevor Casey gave Georgetown a 2-0 lead after 15 minutes of play.

In the brief intermission between the first and second quarters, referee Scott Boyle collapsed on the field. Boyle was treated at the scene, then taken to the emergency room at Anne Arundel Medical Center, Capt. Joseph Martin of the Annapolis Fire Marshall’s office told The Washington Post.

Boyle was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. He was 55.

The sudden tragedy prompted a meeting of officials, both head coaches and the Naval Academy athletic director, who decided to conclude the contest on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.

Players, coaches, officials and the 1,413 fans present at Rip iller Field observed a moment of silence before play resumed.

The Hoyas came out strong for the second day of competition, scoring four more goals to open up a 6-0 lead before Navy could retaliate. As he had done the day before, Miaritis tallied the first goal of the afternoon.

“We were able to go back on Sunday and finish where we left off,” Georgetown Head Coach Dave Urick said.

The Midshipmen notched their only goal of the first half on an extra-man opportunity with 3:44 to go in the second quarter.

The early-game lead represented a complete role reversal from recent weeks. Instead of Georgetown going into the locker room down 7-1 or 6-2 as it had in its last two games against Duke and Hobart, the Hoyas had a 6-1 advantage this time.

Navy’s leading scorer, freshman attack Nick Mirabito, opened the second-half scoring by taking advantage of another extra-man opportunity. But Georgetown responded with three straight, including junior attack Derek Mills’ first goal of the year and Miaritis’ third score of the afternoon.

The Midshipmen narrowed the Hoya lead from 9-2 to 9-4 with two goals in the final minute of the third quarter. Mirabito tallied his second of the day off an assist from senior midfielder Graham Gill as time expired in the period.

Navy sophomore midfielder Steve Looney scored his 14th goal of the year midway through the fourth quarter, but Miaritis and Mills added insurance goals to lock up their team’s fifth win of 2005.

Senior midfielder Andy Corno won 10 of 18 faceoffs and had five groundballs, overcoming the inconsistency which has characterized his early-season play. A groin injury which had plagued Corno in recent weeks did not appear to be as much of a factor this time out.

Overall, Georgetown beat Navy on groundballs by a 41-30 margin.

Senior goalie Rich D’Andrea matched his six goals allowed with six saves. At the opposite end of the field, Navy’s Matt Russell had just four stops while letting by 11 shots.

Mills converted on both of the Hoyas’ extra-man opportunities. Navy was successful in three of its eight chances.

Georgetown had originally been set to play host to the idshipmen on North Kehoe Field. But late Friday afternoon, athletic department officials unexpectedly announced the game would instead be played at Annapolis. A statement on the athletic department Web site attributed the site change to the forecasted rainstorm.

Urick said he had favored keeping the game on the Hilltop and postponing until Sunday, but Naval Academy officials preferred the site change since they face Maryland on Friday and did not want a shortened practice week.

With the win, Georgetown (5-2, 2-0 ECAC) climbed to No. 5 in the poll from the USILA, the governing body of collegiate lacrosse, and to No. 4 in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. It is the highest ranking for the Hoyas since the last week of March last season, before Georgetown lost an 8-7 decision to Navy on Kehoe Field on April 3, 2004.

Sunday’s loss dropped Navy (7-2, 4-1 Patriot) from sixth to eighth place.

Georgetown travels to Manhasset, N.Y., on Saturday to take on Vermont (2-4, 0-2 America East). The two teams meet at a neutral site for the second consecutive year. The Hoyas took a 13-5 win at New Canaan, Conn., last season.

Opening faceoff is slated for 1 p.m.