MEN’S LAX The Streak Goes on GU Racks up Ninth Win At Expense of Old Coach By Tom Kenny Hoya Staff Writer

Charles Nailen/The Hoya Freshman attack Dave Paolisso and the Hoyas slipped past Hobart 8-7 Sunday to remain undefeated.

In his first game against his former team, Hobart Head Coach att Kerwick nearly pulled off the biggest win of his head coaching career thus far. However, the No. 3 Georgetown men’s lacrosse team, with whom Kerwick spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach, escaped with an 8-7 victory over his Hobart squad at a rain-soaked Boswell Field in Geneva, N.Y. Saturday.

With the win, the Hoyas improved to 9-0 and remained the lone undefeated team in Division I in a week that saw two other top 10 teams, No. 4 Syracuse and No. 10 Loyola fall to lower-ranked opponents. The No. 3 national ranking equals the highest in the history of the program. Hobart fell to 5-5.

“It’s in the left hand [win] column,” Head Coach Dave Urick said. “I tell the team that we don’t put any asterisks next to wins.”

Hobart entered the game fighting for its NCAA Tournament life, and its desperation showed. The Statesmen sit tied with Bucknell on top of the Patriot League with both Lehigh and Army sitting within a game of the leaders, all fighting for the league’s automatic bid to the postseason. A win against a quality opponent such as the Hoyas would have greatly aided Hobart’s RPI ranking, which could be crucial for a bubble team come selection time.

“They had us well scouted,” Urick said. “But that’s only part of the equation. The coaches have to transfer that information to the players. The players were well prepared.”

Georgetown outshot Hobart 46-39 on the day but junior goaltender ike Borsz stopped 15 shots to keep Hobart within striking distance of Georgetown for the entire game. The Statesmen were able to dominate the face-off circle, winning 14 out of 18 face-offs. Freshman midfielder Andy Corno, who has taken nearly half the face-offs so far this season for Georgetown, missed the game with a shoulder injury.

However, the biggest factor that allowed the Statesmen to stay in the game was their ability to neutralize Georgetown senior attack/midfielder Steve Dusseau. Dusseau, the nation’s leader in points per game and goals per game, was held to only one goal and an assist. It was the lowest point total of the season for the Tewaaraton Trophy candidate and only the second time he was held below three goals. The other time was when he scored two goals in the Hoyas’ 8-5 victory over No. 5 Cornell on March 2. Hobart junior defenseman Brad Neuberth responded to the challenge of marking one of the nation’s most dangerous offensive threats.

“It was a tremendous individual effort by Brad against one of, if not the best player in the nation,” Kerwick said after the game as reported by Hobart’s Athletic Department Web site.

In addition, junior midfielder Trevor Walker, Georgetown’s third leading scorer, was battling a stomach virus. “He was far from 100 percent,” Urick said.

Georgetown began the game strong and took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter. Senior attack Doug Staab put the Hoyas on the board less than two minutes into the game. Junior long stick midfielder Kyle Sweeney scored for the second straight week and junior attack ike Hammer also added a goal to put the Hoyas up 3-0 after one quarter. They were able to control the ball in the Statesmen’s defensive zone for the majority of the opening quarter and deny them any serious scoring opportunities.

Hobart began to regroup in the second quarter. The Statesmen scored twice in the opening four minutes of the half to narrow the Hoya lead to one goal. Staab answered for Georgetown with 10 minutes remaining but junior attack John Bogosian scored his second of the quarter to make the score 4-3 in favor of Georgetown at the half.

It looked like the Hoyas would pull away in the third quarter. They increased their lead to three goals again as Staab scored his third goal of the game and junior attack Jordan Vettoretti, sophomore midfielder Walid Hajj and Dusseau all added goals make the score 8-5 heading into the final quarter. Overall, six different players scored the eight Georgetown goals.

“We needed other guys to step up,” Urick said.

However, for the first time this season, Georgetown’s offense went cold in the fourth quarter. It was held scoreless, giving the Statesmen a chance to chip away at the Hoya lead. Junior attack Kris Shore scored his second and third goals of the game to make the score 8-7 with 6:44 left to play but Hobart could not manage to get the equalizing goal past senior goaltender Scott Schroeder and the Georgetown defense. Its best chance came when freshman attack Nate Hill’s shot hit the post with 40 seconds remaining. That would be the Statesmen’s last chance though as the Hoyas recovered the shot and did not relinquish possession in the final half minute.

The fact that Hobart was only inches away from sending the game into overtime was not lost on Georgetown. “We know we need to play better,” Urick said. “We know we need to play smarter.”

While Georgetown’s offense sputtered at times Saturday, its defense was solid throughout the game.

Sweeney once again shut down his man. He held junior midfielder Tim Booth, Hobart’s third leading scorer, scoreless the entire game. “Kyle continues to get stronger every week,” Urick said.

Junior defensemen Brant Gresham allowed Bogosian, Hobart’s leading scorer, only two goals, a half a goal below his average. Both goals came in the first half. Schroeder made 12 saves for Georgetown.

“If you can play good defense it can keep you in the game,” Urick said. “When you lose that many face-offs, you need to get the ball back.”

Georgetown returns home to face No. 13 Massachusetts Saturday. It is the final home game of the season for the Hoyas. Face-off is set for 2 p.m. at Harbin Field.