The Georgetown women’s lacrosse team defeated JMU in the first round of Tournament play on Thursday. The 9-5 victory marked the Hoyas’ sixth consecutive post-season quest for the as yet elusive NCAA Championship.
As the offense sputtered for Georgetown, the team’s defense stepped up to take control of the game, at one point holding the Dukes scoreless for a stretch of more than 30 minutes. Despite the low score – the teams met less than a month ago for a 14-7 Hoya win – there were offensive highlights for Georgetown. Senior attack Wick Stanwick tallied a hat-trick and junior midfielder Gloria Lozano won seven draws, setting a school record for most in a season with 76.
“It’s the sign of a team that’s ready to do well in a tournament,” Head Coach Kim Simons said, “when you’re not doing quite as well on one side of the ball and the other side steps up.”
On the other end, freshman goaltender Dosha Stright gained her first dose of tournament experience, handling the cage for the Hoyas all 60 minutes. She recorded five saves while allowing five JMU goals. Overall, Georgetown caused 15 turnovers and picked up 32 groundballs, while JMU’s numbers tallied eight and 21, respectively.
“Today, the fact that our defense played the way they played – and that means every single player in the defensive end – and the way Dosha played in the goal cage is all we could ask for at this time of the year,” Simons said.
In other NCAA women’s lacrosse action, perennial powerhouse and tournament two-seed Maryland cruised past Temple 26-6. Favorite Loyola beat UMBC by a score of 18-3. Defending National Champion Princeton had no trouble with Le Moyne in a 19-1 romp, while Ohio State pulled off the upset over No. 4 Duke.
Georgetown squares off against Virginia on Sunday. The Cavaliers took on D.C. longshot American, and cruised to a more-than comfortable 19-3 victory in the first round. Georgetown is 0-4 against Virgina, with the last matchup taking place in 1998; the Hoyas fell, 16-8.
“We’re playing the best lacrosse of the season, and we have to play great lacrosse on Sunday to beat Virginia. They are certainly a very talented team and they’ve got an experienced defense, and a very threatening offense and great team speed,” Simons said.
“They’re ready to compete, and in order for us to win, we need to do a few things better than we did today.”
