With a win over Mount St. Mary’s (4-5, 1-0 Northeast) on Tuesday night, the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team (5-4, 2-1 Big East) picked up its first back-to-back wins of the season and inched past the .500 mark.
After 11 scoreless minutes to open the game, Georgetown scored the first goal on an unassisted shot by sophomore attack Brian Casey. Less than two minutes later, senior midfielder Max Seligmann scored to put the Hoyas up by two. The Mountaineers scored with 30 seconds remaining in the frame to narrow the gap to 2-1.
“We got much better face-off play from some people like [redshirt freshman defender] Tyler Knarr and [sophomore midfielder] Pat Murray. That was a big difference,” Head Coach Dave Urick said. “What I was most impressed with after the game was how hard our guys rode on attack.”
The Blue and Gray came out strong to open the second quarter, with graduate student attack Rickey Mirabito scoring less than a minute into the period. While Mount St. Mary’s managed a goal with under 10 minutes to go, the rest of the half was all Georgetown.
Mirabito scored off an assist from sophomore attack Travis Comeau with 6:51 left on the clock.
The Hoyas then scored twice in the closing seconds of the half — first on a goal from junior midfielder Zack Angel with 14 seconds left and then a Comeau goal off a Mirabito assist with only seven ticks remaining. Mirabito’s assist was his 16th of the season, tying the mark for his first three seasons at Georgetown combined.
Entering the second half with a 6-2 lead, the Blue and Gray spent most of the third quarter trading goals with the Mountaineers. After Mount St. Mary’s scored the first goal of the half, Georgetown got two in quick succession. The first came from senior attack Brett Weiss and the second was by sophomore attack Davey Emala off an assist by graduate student defender Barney Ehrmann.
“He’s got an awful lot of poise. He’s got an awful lot of confidence with the ball in his stick. He’s able to take the ball and run by some people,” Urick said of Ehrmann. “He made a pass 60 yards through the air [to Emala] who was down by the goal and put it in. It was a heck of a play.”
Comeau made his biggest impact later in the third quarter, when he scored off an assist from Casey and earned an assist on a goal by Emala.
“Travis doesn’t carry it much. He relies on people carrying the ball. He’s also pretty opportunistic and had some impressive plays around the goal,” Urick said.
Mount St. Mary’s kicked off the fourth quarter with a goal to narrow the Georgetown lead to 10-6, but Mirabito answered right back with an unassisted score to restore the Hoyas’ five-goal advantage. The Mountaineers cut the lead back to four with less than six minutes to go but Comeau and Mirabito both scored in the closing minutes as the Hoyas sealed a 13-7 victory.
Next up for Georgetown is Big East foe Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are undefeated this season and have run through their schedule with relative ease.
“They ride a lot like we do. They look like they stress that a lot,” Urick said. “They are a very talented group, a very well-coached team. It’s a challenge for us, but it’s one our guys are looking forward to.”
While Georgetown started out the season ranked No. 15, the Hoyas now have four losses and their chances of playing into the postseason rest on a strong finish.
“This is an opportunity for us to take a step forward, but I’m sure Notre Dame is going to have a lot to say about that,” Urick said.
