The No. 10 Georgetown University men’s lacrosse team beat the St. John’s University Red Storm 18-11 April 18, recording a season high in goals and marking a special occasion for 12 players. It was senior day and their final home game at Cooper Field.
Georgetown’s (7-4, 4-0 Big East) victory over St. John’s (2-11, 0-4 Big East) closed out the Hoyas’ home slate as they remained undefeated in Big East play.
The Red Storm struck first, as St. John’s midfielder Brody Hergott snuck a pass through Georgetown’s defense for attacker Owen Rogers, who scored from point-blank range.
Graduate attacker Rory Connor responded just two minutes later, scoring off a feed from first-year midfielder Jake Bickel. Less than a minute after his brother tied the game, junior attacker Liam Connor emerged from behind the net and spun around to find the back of it, giving the Hoyas the lead. Midway through the period, first-year attacker Natty Mason assisted Rory Connor’s second goal to put Georgetown up 3-1.
Late in the period, attacker Adrian Nowak scored to put the Red Storm within 1, but just 5 seconds later, sophomore attacker Jack Ransom ripped a shot past the St. John’s goalie to restore the Hoyas’ 2-goal advantage. Ransom’s second goal of the game came after Liam Connor found him right in front of the net at 2:13. But the Red Storm weren’t going down without a fight, as face-off specialist Ethan Wiegand won the ensuing face-off and raced down the field to score. With just 23 seconds left in the first period, St. John’s scored again to make it a 5-4 game heading into the second period.
Bickel started off the period with a sprint around the defense and a top-shelf finish to put Georgetown up 6-4. Less than three minutes later, a St. John’s attacker sniped a high shot past junior goalkeeper Anderson Moore to cut the Red Storm’s deficit back to 1.
Midway through the period, Bickel assisted on 2 goals, growing Georgetown’s lead to 3. He dodged defenders to assist Ransom’s third goal of the game — and his first hat trick of the season — before finding Mason, who then spun around a defender to score.
Liam Connor worked his way through defenders and managed to score a late goal at 1:58. Georgetown put more pressure on St. John’s but could not convert, leaving the Hoyas up 9-5 heading into halftime.
The Red Storm were again the first to score in the second half, capitalizing on a give-and-go play. Senior midfielder James Carretta responded with a goal of his own at 11:52 and just 14 seconds later, first-year face-off specialist Hayden Cody recovered the loose ground ball from the faceoff and ran down the field to score, giving Georgetown an 11-6 lead.
After another St. John’s goal, Georgetown scored the final 5 goals of the period. The Connor brothers each had one, while Ransom and Bickel also scored. To close out the period, senior midfielder Patrick Crogan assisted sophomore midfielder Kevin Miller to put the Hoyas up 16-7.
Bickel kicked off the fourth period by completing his hat trick with an assist from Liam Connor. The Red Storm capitalized on a lull from the Hoyas’ offense, scoring 4 straight goals midway through the period. Sophomore attacker Zach Chari scored his first goal of the year with just 56 seconds remaining in the game to secure an 18-11 victory.
After the game, Head Coach Kevin Warne said the departing seniors had been indispensable to the team.
“You’ve got to look at it as a four-year journey,” Warne told The Hoya. “Our goal is that they become better lacrosse players, students and people when they leave than when they got here.”
“Hopefully, they take those lessons into the next 60 years of their life. I hope they learned a thing or two, and maybe a funny joke from me,” Warne added.
Senior midfielder Jordan Wray, the team’s captain, said the team’s community has been the most memorable part of his time at Georgetown.
“The things that I’ll remember most are the things that happened off the lacrosse field, whether that’s bus rides, sitting at home with my roommates, or making dinners,” Wray told The Hoya. “You work your whole life to achieve a goal, and that’s special.”
“But what makes that even more special is the group that you do it with, the challenges you overcome, and the way you grow,” Wray added.
The Hoyas will wrap up the regular season next Friday, April 24, in Villanova, Pa., against the Villanova University Wildcats (6-6, 3-1 Big East), who prevailed April 18 over Marquette University (6-6, 2-2 Big East) 16-15 in overtime. Friday’s game against Villanova will be Georgetown’s last before the Big East tournament, with whoever emerges victorious securing the No. 1 seed in the tournament. While the Hoyas could get an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, a conference championship would automatically qualify them.
