MEN’S LAX Hoyas Hold On Over Ohio State By Tom Kenny Hoya Staff Writer

Charles Nailen/The Hoya Senior midfielder Phil Vincenti competes against Ohio State Saturday. Vincenti had one goal.

For nearly the first three quarters of the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team’s season opener against ECAC conference rival Ohio State Saturday, it was difficult to discern which of the two squads was the two-time defending conference champion and ranked in the top 10 in the country. Despite being outplayed at times by a tough Buckeye team, the Hoyas, ranked No. 7 in Face-Off Yearbook’s preseason Top 25, were able to take control late and come away with a hard-fought 10-8 victory.

When Ohio State junior midfielder Curtis Smith took the ball the length of the field and scored his third goal of the game to give the Buckeyes a 7-5 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Hoyas faced their first major challenge of the 2002 season. A loss in their conference opener would have been a very difficult way to open their quest for a national championship.

But the Hoyas responded. Georgetown showed why it has won the last two ECAC championships and has qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of the last five seasons. In the game’s final 17 minutes, the Hoyas dominated the game and demonstrated who was the better team on the day.

Senior midfielder Phil Vincenti scored off a pass from sophomore attack Neal Goldman to cut the Buckeye lead in half only 35 seconds after Smith’s goal. Then, with only 14 seconds remaining in the third quarter, senior midfielder Steve Dusseau scored the equalizer to give the Hoyas all the momentum entering the final quarter.

“Lacrosse is a game of momentum,” Dusseau said. “We were real lucky to capture it.”

It was more of the same as the fourth quarter opened. The Hoyas gained possession off the face-off and Dusseau gave the Hoyas the lead for good with 14:25 remaining in the game. Just 19 seconds later, junior defenseman Kyle Sweeney scored Georgetown’s fourth goal in span of three minutes as the Hoyas took a two-goal cushion. “Sweeney’s goal was very big,” Head Coach Dave Urick said. Junior attack Mike Hammer scored the Hoyas’ 10th and final goal with 3:41 remaining to virtually seal the victory. Smith scored the game’s last tally for the Buckeyes in the final minute after the outcome was all but assured.

Urick was not at all surprised at how tough the game was for the Hoyas. “This is a pretty darn good team,” Urick said of Ohio State. “Today’s game could have gone in a different direction.” Lacrosse is just becoming a full scholarship sport at Ohio State and Urick said he sees parallels with them and his up and coming Hoya teams of from the early and mid ’90s. “This is going to be a team to be reckoned with,” Urick said. “They’re young, well-coached and very good offensively.”

While Saturday’s game was the season opener for Georgetown, it was the second game for Ohio State, who was defeated 9-8 by North Carolina in triple overtime on Feb. 16. Some of the Hoyas’ early season rustiness was evident in the first three quarters. The two teams basically traded goals throughout the first half as Georgetown appeared out of sink offensively at times. Goldman was the offensive star, scoring three of Georgetown’s four goals.

Midway through the second quarter, both Vincenti and Goldman took penalties to put Georgetown two men down. The Buckeyes took advantage of the opportunity as sophomore attackman Anthony Gilardi scored off a beautiful cross-crease pass from Smith, who was without question the best offensive player on the field for Ohio State Saturday. The goal gave the Buckeyes a 5-4 lead which they would hold until half time.

Despite being down at the half to a supposedly lesser opponent, the Hoyas remained calm. “There was no panic, the first half is only 30 minutes” Goldman said. “Everyone felt they needed to step up and make sure we got a win.” Senior goalie Scott Schroeder remained strong in back for the Hoyas, coming up with several key saves when the Hoyas’ were faced with man-down situations. “Scott came up huge. We kept the momentum because of him,” Dusseau said.

Things may get even tougher for Georgetown next week. They face No. 15 Cornell Saturday at Johns Hopkins University. Urick said he hopes to see improvement in their play in specialized situations, especially man-down play, which is often less than stellar in the early part of the season. Dusseau said he hopes to see the Hoyas overall play improve for next Saturday’s matchup against the Big Red. “We always need to improve,” Dusseau said. “We want to come out of the gates firing.”

News and Notes

All three of Urick’s assistant coaches, Matt Rienzo, Scott Urick and volunteer assistant Jay Kenny, made their debut on the sidelines yesterday for the Hoyas. Rienzo was a three year starter at Georgetown, graduating in 1997. Urick, who graduated in 2000, is Georgetown’s all-time leading scorer with 144 career goals. All three got a game ball afterward … Junior midfielder Trevor Walker missed Saturday’s game because of a hamstring injury. He is expected to play against Cornell Saturday.