With a scintillating Senior Day performance, the so highly-hyped Georgetown class of 2010 put itself back in the hunt for the NCAA Tournament.
Touted as the nation’s best when they arrived on the Hilltop four years ago, Georgetown’s senior class has at times struggled to live up to the high expectations, having made only one NCAA Tournament appearance in three season. But needing a win Saturday against Rutgers to keep their postseason chances alive, the Hoyas delivered. Senior midfielder Scott Kocis and redshirt junior attack Rickey Mirabito netted four goals apiece, and No. 15 Georgetown (8-5) soundly outplayed Rutgers (5-8) in a 14-9 win that was never in doubt.
“This a good Rutgers team; it was something I was concerned about, how much respect our guys would have for them,” Georgetown Coach Dave Urick said. “They haven’t had the record I’m sure that would indicate they’re a good team, but they are a good team.I’m glad we were able to get going a little bit and put ourselves in a position where we score a few goals.”
Rutgers had won on the road against a Notre Dame squad that has bounced in and out of the top 20 all season and played close games against several other ranked teams. But Georgetown ensured that Rutgers was never in a position to spring an upset, as the Hoyas led from start to finish.
Senior attack Craig Dowd (1 goal, 3 assists) fed Kocis less than a minute into the game to get the scoring started for the Hoyas, and Mirabito followed with two quick goals to give Georgetown a 3-0 lead after five minutes.
Georgetown controlled possession throughout the first half, thanks in large part to Brian Tabb’s success in the faceoff circle. The junior won 10 of 12 first half draws – 14 of 22 for the contest – and the Hoyas took a 7-4 lead into halftime.
Georgetown burst out of the gates again in the second half, scoring three quick goals to extend the lead to 10-4. A Rutgers rally late in the quarter and into the start of the fourth cut the deficit in half, but the Scarlet Knights could get no closer than within three goals as the Hoyas continued to light up the scoreboard. Kocis added his fourth of the game – an empty-netter as Rutgers pressured with the goalie – to give the Hoyas a 14-8 advantage before the Scarlet Knights scored in the final seconds.
Senior defender Chris Nixon once again put the clamp down on a team’s top offensive threat, this time senior midfielder Justin Pennington. The team’s top scorer (22 goals) and leader in assists (13) entering the game, Pennington managed only a lone assist on a fourth-quarter extra-man opportunity.
Aside from the unbalanced scoring which has plagued Georgetown lately – the starting attack and first midfield line accounted for 12 of 14 goals against Rutgers – extra-man defense was the Hoyas’ one weakness against Rutgers. Georgetown was called for six penalties, of which Rutgers converted four for goals.
The victory sets up a with No. 13 Villanova for second place in the Big East in Saturday’s season finale, and both teams will be looking for a marquee win to pad the tournament resume. A win would be a huge boost to either team’s postseason hopes, while a loss would likely signal the season’s end.
But Urick was not ready to speculate publicly about the tournament bubble, instead focusing preparing for the game at hand.
“We’re just going to keep playing until somebody says we’re done,” Urick said. “We can’t worry about things we don’t have control over. What we have control over is getting ready to play a very good Villanova team.”
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