Any hopes Georgetown had of making an appearance in the Big East lacrosse tournament were dashed after the men’s lacrosse team (4-9, 1-4 Big East) fell to Marquette (6-8, 4-1 Big East) 11-10 on Saturday. In the loss, junior attack Bo Stafford led the Hoyas, finishing with three goals and an assist.
The Hoyas led by six goals in the third quarter, but the Golden Eagles answered with a 7-1 run between the third and fourth quarters to tie the game at 10-10, allowing them a chance at overtime redemption. That momentum carried into overtime for Marquette, which allowed it to pull away with the victory; freshman midfielder Ryan McNamara scored less than a minute into the period to seal the Georgetown loss.
Before Marquette’s comeback, Georgetown dominated possession and took advantage of the increased opportunities. In the first quarter, junior attack and co-captain Reilly O’Connor scored two goals in the first quarter, while freshman midfielders Devon Lewis and Eduardo White each contributed a goal. Meanwhile, the Georgetown defense was able to control the Marquette offensive counters and limited them to one goal. At the end of the quarter, Georgetown held a sizeable 5-1 advantage.
Georgetown continued to control the ball through the end of the half and into the third quarter; however, a shift in momentum between the two teams allowed Marquette to close Georgetown’s lead.
One factor in this shift came from a key halftime decision made by Marquette: redshirt sophomore midfielder Tyler Gilligan began taking the faceoffs against redshirt senior defender and Hoya co-captain Tyler Knarr. Although Knarr finished with a commanding 16-of-25 faceoff wins, Gilligan managed four faceoff wins that generated crucial offensive opportunities for the Golden Eagles, including the overtime play that resulted in McNamara’s game-winning goal.
Georgetown Head Coach Kevin Warne acknowledges the key adjustments Marquette made, and believes Georgetown failed to adequately respond.
“I think we had a few self-inflicted wounds,” Warne said. “We didn’t make the best decisions. We just needed a little bit more poise in some of our decisions. … We actually reviewed the film and [Marquette] made some plays that were out of the box and kind of crazy, [but] they made lacrosse plays at the end of the day.”
Georgetown needed to win against Marquette in order to remain in consideration for a spot in the Big East tournament. Consequently, Georgetown’s final game of the season will be Saturday when it hosts conference rival Rutgers (7-7, 2-3 Big East).
Georgetown will have to adjust after Saturday’s loss in order to anticipate Rutger’s momentous style of play on offense. Warne believes that the Georgetown defense will need to be intuitive and reactive in order to take Rutgers out of its element.
“I think because Rutgers plays very fast, they want to play in transition,” Warne said. “They want to get a shot off in the first 20 seconds of their possession. We have to make sure our guys are on high alert as soon as they cross the midfield line and be organized and get ready to go to understand that they’re going to play at a different pace than we saw this past Saturday.”
In particular, Georgetown will need to be on high alert to limit Rutgers redshirt senior attack Scott Klimchak, who has been a perennial offensive power for the Scarlet Knights. Klimchak currently leads the team with 36 goals and five assists and has proved to be a crucial asset to the Rutgers offense throughout his career; he also led the team in points during the 2013 season and was second in points in 2012.
Georgetown has added incentive to perform well on Saturday; the team will honor eight seniors as they conclude their careers. Because of this, Warne points out that Georgetown still feels the same pressure to earn a victory as it did when faced with the possibility of making the postseason, and will work to send off its seniors with a memorable performance.
“I think this is a playoff game for us because it’s a playoff game for our seniors,” Warne said. “They deserve to go out on top …It’s their Senior Day and you always remember your last game as a senior, so I want to make sure that they walk off the MultiSport [facility] with a smile on their face.”
Warne believes this will be accomplished through executing fundamentals and showing the same intensity on the field that has brought the team success in the past.
“We’re not going to change, we’re going to keep coaching the same [way], and that’s what we need to do to make sure we walk out with a win,” Warne said.
