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Junior attack Ricky Mirabito scored two goals in the Hoyas’ win against Fairfield.

Staring at a 0-2 ECAC record heading into Saturday, Georgetown’s seniors knew that the window of opportunity was closing quickly on their lacrosse careers. Another loss would essentially knock the Hoyas out of contention for a league title and an NCAA tournament bid.

“It’s on the senior class to turn this thing around,” senior attack Jake Samperton said. “It’s our team, so we take it personally. We talked a lot about playing with pride. We’ve got to turn this season around any way we can, and it starts with us, so I’m glad that we showed up today.”

Samperton, who made his first start of the season, scored two goals and added an assist as Georgetown’s seniors led the Hoyas to an 11-8 win over Fairfield. Senior midfielder Dan Vinson won 17-of-21 faceoffs and senior midfielder Dan D’Agnes netted two fourth-quarter goals to put the game out of reach.

The Stags entered Multi-Sport Facility Saturday in first place in the league with a 3-0 record. Meanwhile, the Hoyas need to win their final four ECAC games and get help as they try to climb out of the league cellar.

“We don’t have total control over our destiny, but we do have the opportunity to play ourselves into this thing if we get a little bit of help,” Head Coach Dave Urick said. “We just need to focus on trying to win the next game. This is the first time we’ve won two games in a row.”

The game was back and forth in the first half, but the Hoyas went on a three-goal run to enter halftime up 6-4. Vinson was 11-of-12 in the faceoff X in the first half, and his only loss came on a procedural call when the referee ruled that his foot was in the neutral zone.

“We watched some film on these guys and this was a must-win game for us,” Vinson said. “I was just doing what I normally do, and it was working so I stuck to it.”

Vinson’s handiwork on faceoffs continued to give the Hoyas’ offense chances in the second half, and Georgetown built a 10-5 lead midway through the fourth quarter. Georgetown controlled possession for much of the final frame.

“Obviously faceoffs were paramount,” Fairfield Head Coach Andrew Copelan said. “That translated into a very one-sided time of possession battle. I thought we got down and didn’t execute our way out of trouble. I thought we got away from things.”

Junior attack Ricky Mirabito, the Hoyas’ leading scorer, added two goals, and sophomore goalkeeper Jack Davis made nine saves in goal to register the win.

Next up for Georgetown is Loyola on Saturday. The Greyhounds are 3-1 in league play and are the reigning league champions. Faceoff is set for 1 p.m. at Multi-Sport Facility.

Hoya Notes:

– Junior midfielder Andrew Brancaccio, who entered the game with 16 goals, did not score despite taking nine shots and six shots on goal.

– Both of Samperton’s goals were unassisted. Urick said he was unsure if he could play Samperton, who was banged up all week. Urick moved Samperton to attack from midfield, where he played earlier in the season. The senior entered the game with one goal and one assist on the season.

– Senior midfielder Ben Hostetler scored his first goal of the season in the third quarter. The goal made the score 8-5 Georgetown.

– The Hoyas struggled clearing the ball on the day, and were only successful on 14 of their 21 chances.

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