Although the undermanned Richmond Spiders put up a good fight, the Hoyas were able to escape the tangle of the Spiders’ web and secure a 15-10 victory March 12.

While a massive winter storm pounded the East Coast, another battle waged on as the No. 5 Georgetown Hoyas (5-1) took on the unranked Richmond Spiders (3-3). Coming off a disappointing loss to the red-hot Princeton Tigers (4-1), Georgetown looked to get back in its winning groove. The Spiders were no pushover, however, as each of their three losses have been within 6 goals against top-10 nationally ranked teams. 

Snow battered the field as the opening whistle blew, leading to senior faceoff James Reilly’s victory. The first quarter started with an offensive flurry as the Hoyas put up 5 unanswered goals. Within the first 45 seconds, senior attacker Dylan Watson notched his team-leading 17th goal of the season as the Spiders’ closeout came too late. 

Georgetown kept up the pressure in its 1-4-1 attack as graduate attack/midfielder Alex Trippi stepped into a pass that whizzed past a Richmond defender from junior midfielder Graham Bundy Jr. 

The Hoyas knocked down 3 more goals without any Richmond response as shots by senior midfielder Declan McDermott, sophomore midfielder Dylan Hess and Bundy Jr. found their way between the pipes. The Spiders regained their footing, however, tacking on 2 quick goals within 40 seconds.

The standouts for each team, Hoya Bundy Jr. and Spider attacker Dalton Young, traded goals late in the first quarter before Watson piled on another goal to cap off Georgetown’s dominant start, 7-3.

The second quarter was a much more balanced match as Richmond began to settle in. Trippi sparked the scoring when he came off the left wing to wrap a shot into the net. The Spiders answered with a slew of ground balls and strong defensive stands, and a back-and-forth ensued as each team matched the energy of their opponent. The Hoyas kept their 4-goal lead through the quarter and went into halftime up 10-6.

Not discouraged by their first-half performance, the Spiders started the second half with a breakaway as defender Jake Kapp snagged the ball out of the air, cutting the Georgetown lead to 3. Facing increased pressure from Richmond, the Hoyas found themselves overwhelmed on offense, leading to a shot clock violation at 11:21. Taking advantage of the error, the Spiders scored again, leaving Georgetown with a mere 2-point cushion. The goal came when a ricochet off a defender’s stick dribbled the ball past Hoya graduate goalkeeper Owen McElroy. 

Richmond continued its strong offense, but the two teams traded attacks without any successful drives for over 10 minutes. Georgetown, however, was not content to settle with a scoreless quarter. With 8.7 seconds left, Bundy Jr. sniped a shot into the top right corner of the net. 

The Spiders mustered a goal to start the fourth, but the Hoyas answered readily. Bundy Jr. struck once again at 5:58, scoring his 4th goal of the day right off the draw, wresting control completely from Richmond.

With a man down due to a slashing penalty, Young tried to spark a late Spiders comeback with 4:47 left, but Georgetown responded with a McDermott circus shot from the back of the net, as well as an empty netter by Trippi. After long periods of holding the ball and playing keepaway, the Hoyas were able to exhaust the clock and secure the victory.

Overall, Georgetown’s dominant defense and groundplay put the Hoyas on top once again, collecting 41 ground balls to Richmond’s 23. Reilly showed out as well, winning 19 of 29 face-offs, and even contributing a goal and an assist despite being a faceoff.

Bundy Jr.’s offensive explosion led the team with 5 goals and an assist. Fellow midfielders McDermott and Trippi each added a hat trick to top off an dominant day for the midfield group, which registered 13 of the Hoyas’ goals.

Georgetown hopes to add another win to its record when it faces off against the Utah Utes (3-2) on Saturday at 11 p.m. at Cooper Field.