Both Connor brothers took hard tumbles and had to exit the game for short stretches, but battled through to combine for 15 points on the day.
While graduate attacker Rory Connor returned from the locker room to score 7 goals, junior attacker Liam Connor’s 8 assists tied him with Lucas Wittenberg’s (MSB ’19) 8-assist performance against Providence College in the 2019 Big East tournament semifinals for the most assists in a game in the history of Georgetown University men’s lacrosse.
The dominant offense from the Connor brothers propelled No. 13 Georgetown (6-4, 3-0 Big East) to a 17-7 victory over the Marquette University Golden Eagles (6-5, 2-1 Big East) on April 11 on Cooper Field, officially clinching the Hoyas’ spot in the Big East tournament.
Sophomore midfielder Kevin Miller struck first, scoring on a high shot just 33 seconds into the game. Marquette’s offense quickly applied pressure, but was unable to respond with a goal of their own after a shot from attacker Carsen Brandt barely missed the net wide. Then, Liam Connor found graduate midfielder Joe Vranizan at 13:16 to put Georgetown up 2-0.
The Hoyas’ third goal of the game came right after Rory Connor was thrown to the ground by a Marquette defender. While he had to be helped off the field, he returned quickly. Senior midfielder Joe Cesare caught a pass from Liam Connor before putting the shot away to put Georgetown up 3-0. Miller then scored his second of the game at 11:02 to give the Hoyas a 4-goal lead.
The Golden Eagles began to show some fight midway through the first period, getting on the board with a goal from midfielder Jake Bair. At 7:25, the Marquette offense capitalized on a wide hole in the Georgetown defense, setting up midfielder Peter Detwiler for a goal off of a 3-on-1. The Golden Eagles came within 1 at 6:34, digging out of the 4-goal deficit to bring the score to 4-3, but that was the closest they would get to the Hoyas all afternoon.
First-year attacker Natty Mason gave the Hoyas some breathing room with his first goal of the game at 3:19. Just 18 seconds later, Rory Connor scored off of a feed from his brother to put Georgetown up 6-3. With under 2 minutes remaining in the period, Rory Connor scored his second of the game to restore Georgetown’s 4-goal lead over Marquette.
The scoring quieted down in the second period. Junior midfielder Jack Schubert assisted first-year midfielder Jake Bickel and sophomore attacker Jack Ransom on goals early in the period to put the Hoyas up 9-3.
Rory Connor scored his third goal, again assisted by his brother, to give him a hat trick with less than 4 minutes remaining in the half. Marquette midfielder Beau Westphal’s late goal closed out the first half with the score 10-4 Georgetown.
Just two minutes into the second half, junior midfielder James Carroll connected with Rory Connor for his fourth goal of the game. Marquette responded, seizing on a wild rebound from junior goalkeeper Anderson Moore. Not long after, Rory Connor scored once more to put the Hoyas up 12-5.
With 1:39 left in the third period, Mason picked up a ground ball in a crowd and scored a high goal from the ground. Liam Connor tallied his first of the day in the period’s waning moments to increase Georgetown’s lead to 9.
Just 6 seconds into the fourth period, Liam Connor set up his brother Rory for his sixth goal of the game. With the assist, Liam Connor’s eighth of the game, he tied the all-time single-game assist record in Georgetown men’s lacrosse history.
Liam Connor said it was a special moment for him but that the stat is more a measure of team success.
“Obviously this is a place with a storied history and that’s one of the big reasons why I wanted to come here,” the younger Connor brother told The Hoya. “The assists wouldn’t be possible without having an amazing group of teammates surrounding me.”
“I can’t have the assists if the guys you throw to don’t bury the ball. So I’m just thankful that the guys on that end were able to do that today,” he added.
Less than a minute later, Rory Connor scored his seventh goal of the game, giving the Hoyas a 16-5 lead. Marquette broke Georgetown’s goal streak with 2 quick goals midway through the period.
After a Marquette midfielder was given a penalty for unnecessary roughness, senior attacker Henry Caponiti assisted senior midfielder Jordan Wray on a man-up goal with 22 seconds remaining in the game to give the Hoyas a 17-7 victory.
Head Coach Kevin Warne said the team’s hard work and chemistry are peaking at the right time
“You build this thing when everybody comes in in August, and you want to see our guys have that brotherhood that gets cultivated in the locker room,” Warne told The Hoya. “I think when that goes from the locker room onto the field, it’s a good sign for us.”
Georgetown continues Big East play next Saturday, April 18, at home against the St. John’s University Red Storm (2-10, 0-3 Big East) for senior night.
