The Connor brothers combined for 8 goals and 2 assists as the No. 12 Georgetown University men’s lacrosse team cruised past the Providence College Friars 15-8 in Providence, R.I., on April 4. The Hoyas remain unbeaten in Big East play, and are now above .500 in their overall record for the first time since defeating the University of Pennsylvania in their first game of the season Feb. 14.

The Hoyas (5-4, 2-0 Big East) were looking to build on their win over No. 13 University of Denver (4-6, 0-2 Big East) last week, when they routed the Pioneers 17-5. Meanwhile, the Friars (4-8, 0-2 Big East) hoped to bounce back from an overtime loss to Marquette University on Mar. 28.

Providence won the opening faceoff and opened scoring at 11:59, but play paused for an official review to determine whether Providence attacker Jack Bonello was pushed into the crease before scoring. The referees determined the ball went in before Bonello entered the crease, so the Friars took a 1-0 lead.

First-year midfielder Natty Mason evened it up for Georgetown at 8:31, and the Hoyas took their first lead of the day at 4:27 when junior attacker Liam Connor found his older brother, graduate attacker Rory Connor, in front of the goal. The Friars dominated possession in the first quarter, aided by face-off specialist Chris Esposito’s 5-for-5 faceoff record. Providence tied the game at 2 with 1:24 left in the quarter.

The Hoyas found their footing in the second quarter. At 14:14, Liam Connor rounded the net and shot, projecting the ball past Providence goalkeeper Cam Sterritt to give Georgetown its lead back, before sophomore midfielder Kevin Miller extended the lead to 4-2 at 11:26.

At 8:59, Providence Head Coach Bobby Benson challenged a shot he thought was blocked by a Georgetown defender in the crease, attempting to give his team a man-up advantage, but was unsuccessful. A minute later, an unnecessary roughness penalty gave the Hoyas an extra-man opportunity, and first-year midfielder Jake Bickel capitalized quickly, firing past Sterritt from the left side to give Georgetown a 5-2 lead.

Rory Connor converted with 2:46 left in the first half off a feed from junior midfielder Pax Marshall to put the Hoyas up by 4. As time expired, Providence broke through the Georgetown defense and fired between junior goalkeeper Anderson Moore’s legs, but the Hoyas’ goalie quickly fell on the ball before it trickled in. Moore’s miraculous save preserved Georgetown’s 6-2 lead going into the half.

Georgetown Head Coach Kevin Warne said possession helped the Hoyas dominate the second quarter after ending the first tied.

“I just think we had the ball, right. We had some really positive offensive positions, we shot a little bit better, and we played a little bit better defensively,” Warne said in a halftime interview with ESPN. “Just kind of figured out how Providence wanted to attack us and have a plan for it.”

The Hoyas picked up where they left off in the third quarter. After they stopped Providence’s offense on the opening play, a shot from Bickel dropped to sophomore attacker Jack Ransom, who miraculously flicked the ball behind his back and into the top corner at 13:03 to bring the Hoyas’ lead to 5. Rory Connor completed his hat trick two minutes later with a five-hole effort, putting Georgetown up 8-2.

Providence ended the Hoyas’ 6-0 scoring run just over 30 seconds later with their first goal since 1:24 in the first quarter. The relief did little to slow the Hoyas’ momentum. Liam Connor bounced the ball past Sterritt at 9:38, before Miller recorded his second of the game less than a minute later to bring the Hoyas into double digits. Liam Connor matched his brother’s hat trick with a bounce shot off the jump half a minute later to give Georgetown an 11-3 lead, its largest of the night, before Providence scored with 2:55 left in the period.

Bickel opened the fourth quarter with a cross-crease dive and finish, restoring the Hoyas’ 8-goal advantage. Providence again cut the lead to 7 with 12 minutes left in the game, but Liam Connor took the game out of the Friars’ hands with a breakaway goal at 10:18 and another finish at 5:47, putting Georgetown up 14-5.

Providence scored 3 times as the game wound down, but it was too little, too late. With 39 seconds left, senior midfielder Patrick Crogan scored his first goal of the season for the Hoyas to cap off Georgetown’s 15-8 win.

Liam Connor led the team with 5 goals and 1 assist, and his brother Rory was close behind, with a hat trick and an assist of his own, marking the second time this season that both brothers have had hat tricks in the same game. Bickel and Miller also had 2 goals each, and Moore recorded a solid 61.5% save percentage.

After the team’s second-quarter collapse against Syracuse University two weeks ago, Georgetown has now pulled away in the second quarter twice in a row. Liam Connor said trust was key after a frustrating first quarter on Saturday.

“I think we really trust each other on offense, so when things aren’t going great in the first quarter, we know that we’re just going to keep playing unselfish,” Connor told ESPN after the game. “I’m just so fortunate to be surrounded by such an awesome group on offense, and defense did a great job getting us stops right. We get the ball back and push in a little bit, which is awesome.”

The Hoyas have put up 17 and 15 goals, respectively, in their last two games. Liam Connor cited consistency and selfless play as the catalysts for his team’s offensive explosion.

“I think one thing we stressed throughout the week is just being consistent,” Connor said. “We know we have great pieces on offense, a bunch of great guys that can make plays, but I think we struggled a little bit early on this season, just being consistent throughout all four quarters of the game. We want to be a great team that makes a lot of plays, especially on offense.”

“So I think just being consistent, trusting each other, and being unselfish, which I think we did a great job of today,” Connor added.

Georgetown’s four-game road trip is finally over. The Hoyas return to Cooper Field on April 11 at 12 p.m. to battle the Marquette University Golden Eagles (6-4, 2-0 Big East), who are coming off back-to-back overtime wins to start their Big East season.