After a rough early season loss to the No. 3 Maryland Terrapins, the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team rebounded impressively with a decisive 13-9 victory against St. John’s on March 5. After the win, however, the team dropped games at Harvard and in Baltimore against Syracuse.

The Hoyas showed their ability to play well in a hostile atmosphere at St. John’s, dominating on both sides of the ball. Junior midfielder Zack Angel set the tone with two early goals, providing the team with a lead that it would hold for the rest of the game. Sophomore attacks Davey Emala and Travis Comeau led the way from there, scoring three goals each for the second time this season. Although the Blue and Gray failed to score in the fourth quarter, their 13 goals in the first three proved to be more than enough.

The sharp defensive effort was led by senior goalkeeper Jack Davis, who had a season-high 14 saves. Redshirt freshman defender Tyler Knarr also played extremely well, winning an impressive seven face-offs, while junior defender Dan Hostetler picked up six ground balls and forced three turnovers.

However, the team’s turnaround was short-lived. In the final game of their four-game road stretch, the Hoyas suffered a crushing 16-15 loss to Harvard.

The Blue and Gray got off to an extremely slow start, conceding seven goals in the first quarter, including three in just over a minute. But despite an early 8-3 deficit, the Hoyas managed to cut Harvard’s lead to three by halftime.

Comeau and Emala put on a show late in the third quarter, combining for three goals — one by Comeau and two by Emala — to tie the game for the first time. However, Harvard answered with a goal early in the final frame and maintained the lead for the rest of the game. Although the team lost, Emala finished with a season-high five goals and won himself a spot on the Big East weekly honor roll.

Following the disappointing loss to Harvard, the Hoyas traveled to Baltimore to host Big East rival and national No. 1 Syracuse at M&T Bank Stadium. Looking to rebound from a rough loss and mount a season-changing upset, the Hoyas came out firing. After the Orange opened the game with a quick goal, Emala responded with two goals of his own. But the Orange answered with two goals late in the second quarter, taking a 4-2 lead into halftime.

Throughout the third quarter, the game remained a defensive battle. Midway through, the Hoyas reduced the deficit to 5-4 with a goal by sophomore attack Brian Casey. Emala took over as the game entered the final quarter, continuing his unbelievable play over the past three games. He answered each of the two goals scored by Syracuse, and then added one more to put the Blue and Gray within one.

Just as the Orange seemed on the verge of victory, sophomore defender Chris Nourse created a turnover and passed to junior midfielder Gerry Reilly, who scored an impressive goal to take the game into overtime.

However, the Orange dominated in overtime, denying the Hoyas what would have been their biggest win of the season and leaving them just short of a miraculous upset.

Despite dropping three of their last four games, the Blue and Gray have certainly not shown a lack of effort or talent. But the Hoyas do need to find a way to finish out games if they hope to live up to high preseason expectations. Their true home opener this weekend against Providence precedes an away game at Duke next weekend.