The steady march of Georgetown seniors into the trainer’s room shows no signs of ending any time soon.
Already playing without three defensive starters, the Hoyas’ depth was tested further on Wednesday when senior attack Rickey Mirabito was carried off on a stretcher shortly before halftime. But the underclassmen stepped up to give No. 9 Georgetown (3-2) a 13-11 victory over the No. 19 Delaware Blue Hens (4-3) in the program’s first night-game at MultiSport Facility.
With the Hoyas leading 7-6 in the final minute of the second quarter, Delaware successfully cleared and Mirabito fell to the ground behind the play, after contact with a Blue Hens defender. Mirabito laid at midfield for about 10 minutes before being taken off the field on a stretcher, suffering from an apparent head injury.
After the game Georgetown Head Coach Dave Urick called the injury a concussion and said it is not expected to be a long-term issue.
“I didn’t see [the injury], but one of our trainers did,” Urick said. “He got sandwiched in between a couple Delaware defenders, and it was what we might call a bit of a cheap shot.”
Georgetown can scarcely afford to have Mirabito – tied for the team lead with seven goals entering the game – miss significant action. The senior-laden squad is finding itself increasingly reliant on younger players, as Mirabito joins defenders Barney Ehrmann and Eric Bicknese and goalie Jack Davis on the injury list. Ehrmann aggravated an ankle injury in the opener against Maryland and is redshirting after having surgery, Bicknese suffered a separated shoulder Saturday at Syracuse and could miss the rest of the season, and Davis’ lingering back injury – re-aggravated in the 15-12 defeat to Syracuse – makes his status uncertain.
Sophomore goalie CT Fisher impressed in Davis’ absence, making 16 saves in his second collegiate start. Fisher also led the clear with great poise, with the Hoyas turning the ball over only once in 25 attempts.
“To be honest, I was a little worried that we hadn’t practiced the clear enough,” Urick said. “CT did a great job out there today.”
Senior defender Chris Nixon drew the unenviable task of trying to shut down All-American attack Curtis Dickson, who entered the game with a nation’s best 30 goals. Dickson scored a hat trick and added an assist, but none of those goals came in the fourth quarter when Delaware found itself trailing and in need of offense.
“He’s [Dickson] a really good scorer, and he’s not afraid to shoot,” Nixon said. “By the end of the game, it became a matter of just trying to lock him off.”
Once again, Georgetown found goals from all over, with four Hoyas finding the back of the net twice. Senior attack Craig Dowd recorded two goals and an assist, giving him a team-high 15 points on the season (5 goals, 10 assists). Senior midfielder Andrew Brancaccio appears to have fully recovered from a preseason concussion, with his pair of goals giving him seven on the season.
Freshman attack Travis Comeau continues to shine for the Hoyas with his eighth and ninth goals of the year, and fellow freshman Brian Casey notched his first two collegiate goals in his first game action for Georgetown.
“It was a scrappy win,” Nixon said. “It may not have been very pretty, but we’re happy to get the victory.”
The win follows a 15-12 loss at No. 2 Syracuse in which Stephen Keogh paced the Orange with five goals, including four in a row in the first quarter. Syracuse built an 11-7 halftime lead before Georgetown clawed back, scoring four of the next five goals to close the deficit to one midway through the fourth quarter. But the Orange scored off the next faceoff and took advantage of two extra man opportunities to extend the lead back to four goals.
Senior midfielder Scott Kocis scored a hat trick in defeat. Junior attack Ryan Shuler and Comeau recorded a pair of goals apiece.
Up next for Georgetown is a Sunday visit to Providence (0-4), a team that the Hoyas should overcome with relative ease after playing four ranked opponents in their first five games. The game starts at noon.
