5/3/2003

WASHINGTON, D.C. ? After leading 6-3 at the half, the Georgetown Hoyas (10-3) saw the Syracuse (8-5) offense comeback with six tallies in the third quarter and secure a 12-10 victory.  Over 2,100 spectators at Harbin Field watched the Hoyas and the Orange on a sunny Saturday afternoon. The good news for Georgetown was that the Hoyas clinched the 2003 ECAC Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship after Rutgers upset UMass.

The game was marked as a match up of the No. 2 offense of Syracuse and No. 3 defense of Georgetown. GU took off early on the offensive end as Jordan Vettoretti (Carmel, N.Y./ Mahopac) scored the first goal of the day, his first of two, off a pass from Brian Chen (Amherst, N.H./St. Paul?s School).  Sean Lindsay scored three minutes later, at 8:33 to put the Orange on the board.  The Hoyas would strike again on a goal from Mike Chiara (Mountain Lakes, N.J./Mountain Lakes), assisted by Peter Cannon (Haverford, Pa./The Haverford School).  Lindsay would score his second of the game with 4:28 left in the first, to knot the score at 2-2. 

The Hoyas started the second stanza with four straight goals coming from three different players.  Trevor Walker (Haverford, Pa./ Episcopal Academy) had two of the four goals, which he scored unassisted.  The Hoya defense held Syracuse to only one goal in the second, that came only 1:41 left in the first half.  The score was 6-3 at halftime, in favor of the Hoyas. 

The second half saw Georgetown come out and score two quick goals, both by Neal Goldman (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Hebron), receiving assists from Vettoretti and Mike Hammer (Fairfax, Va./Robinson).  However, the second half also saw the Syracuse offense explode for eight unanswered goals, spanning the third and fourth periods.  Six different Orangemen scored six of the eight goals in a span of seven minutes.  During this span the Orange took the lead from the Hoyas and entered the half way mark of the fourth up 11-8.  Goldman would score his hat trick with 6:39 left and Vettoretti would notch his second on the day, however it would not be enough for the Hoyas to win. 

It was another strong effort in the faceoff circle for GU?s Andy Corno (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) as he won 18 of 26 attempts at the ?X?. Syracuse goalie Jay Pfeifer helped stop the Hoyas compiling 18 saves while GU stopper Rich D?Andrea (Belle Mead, N.J./The Peddie School) saved 12 shots. 

Georgetown will find out about their position in the 2003 NCAA Championship on Sunday, May 4, 2003 at 8 p.m. live on ESPN News. 

SCORE BY PERIODS         1   2   3   4  Total
SYRACUSE (8-5)           2   1   6   3     12
GEORGETOWN (10-3)        2   4   2   2     10
 
GOALS:
Syracuse: Sean Lindsay 2, Liam Banks 2, Greg Rommel 2, Michael Powell 2,
Brian Crockett, Michael Springer, Alex Zink, Brian Nee.
Georgetown: Neal Goldman 3, Jordan Vettoretti 2, Trevor Walker 2,
Mike Chiara, Brian Chen, Phil Vincenti.
 
ASSISTS:
Syracuse: Michael Springer 5, Brian Crockett, Michael Powell.
Georgetown: Mike Hammer 4, Brian Chen, Peter Cannon,
Neal Goldman, Jordan Vettoretti.
 
SHOTS:
Syracuse: 36
Georgetown: 53
 
GROUND BALLS:
Syracuse: 31
Georgetown: 53
 
FACE-OFFS:
Syracuse: 8 of 26
Georgetown: 18 of 26
 
SAVES:
Syracuse: 18 Jay Pfeifer 18 (10 GA).
Georgetown: 12 Rich D?Andrea 12 (12 GA ? 58:40 minutes),
            Andrew Owen 0 (0 GA ? 00:20 minutes).
 
PENALTIES:
Syracuse: 6 for 4:30 minutes
Georgetown: 4 for 2:00 minutes
 
EMO:
Syracuse: 2 of 4
Georgetown: 1 of 5
 
ATTENDANCE:
2,186