March 13, 2005

Box Score

March 12, 2005 - CARSON, CA - Georgetown's men's lacrosse team held a halftime lead against Syracuse for the fourth consecutive game but for the first time the Hoyas kept an advantage at the end of the game, defeating the Orange 10-7 in the inaugural First 4 held at the Home Depot Center before 7,182 fans. In the first Division I men's lacrosse game ever played in Southern California the Hoyas defeated the defending national champions for the first time since 1999 behind a hat trick performance from sophomore Trevor Casey (Bethesda, Md./Georgetown Prep), who was named the game's MVP.

All four of Georgetown's senior captains played career games and earned their first ever win against the Orange. Long stick Brodie Merrill (Orangeville, Ontario/Salisbury School) had a game high four caused turnovers and five groundballs plus for the third straight game contributed offensively with a second quarter goal. Face-off phenom Andy Corno (Bethesda, Md./Walt Whitman) rebounded from a tough season opener to win 13-of-19 face-offs, which increased his career win mark to 74-of-112 (.665) all-time versus the Orange. Both middie Nick Miaritis (Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) and goalie Rich D'Andrea (Belle Mead, N.J./The Peddie School) posted their best games thus far of 2005 with Miaritis hitting for two goals and D'Andrea allowing just seven scores and recording 10 saves.

After the first quarter the Hoyas found themselves down 3-2. Georgetown's Pete Cannon (Haverford, Pa./The Haverford School) opened the game's scoring seven minutes into the contest. Syracuse responded by scoring two straight before Miaritis notched his first of the day. With just under two minutes SU's Greg Rommel netted his first of two to give the Orange the lead after the first 15 minutes.

A string of three straight goals for Georgetown began the second period with Merrill starting the onslaught with a low driving shot off a breakaway. Casey then tallied his first score five minutes later at 6:39 before freshman Matt McBride (Ridgewood, N.J./Delbarton) scored in a man-down situation with just one minute left. GU's defense held the Orange scoreless in the quarter allowing the Hoyas to enter the tunnel up two, 5-3.

It was looking like "Déjà vu" in the third quarter as Georgetown's two goal lead evaporated quickly as SU's Rommel netted goal number two three minutes into the period. Casey stemmed the tide for a moment after an assist from Sean Denihan (Manhasset, N.Y./Manhasset) to regain the Hoyas' two-goal cushion. But Syracuse's top scorer Brian Crocket scored two consecutive goals and with three minutes remaining the game was tied at six. After a Hoya timeout with 10 seconds remaining Head Coach Dave Urick sketched out an offensive play that ended with Denihan burying a shot with just two seconds to play.

The Hoya offense again exploded on the Orange for three scores in the fourth with McBride netting his second of the day off a Mike Boynton (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) assist three minutes into the quarter. Casey and Denihan then teamed up again and then Miaritis put in an insurance score with 4:39 to play. The Orange did not score for a full 15 minutes between the third and fourth quarter finally breaking the trend with 3:49 to play but with the game's outcome already in hand.

Georgetown won the hustle stats, securing 41 groundballs compared to SU's 22 and also winning 13-of-20 face-offs. Shots were relatively even with the Orange taking 35 and the Hoyas shooting 37 times. SU's goalie Jay Pfeifer finished the day with 11 saves.

The Hoyas continue to be road warriors with a game at Delaware this Wednesday, March 16, at 7 p.m.