Georgetown 13, Villanova 11

Final Stats

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Georgetown University's men's lacrosse team picked up a key BIG EAST Conference victory with a 13-11 win over No. 13/13 Villanova on Saturday afternoon. The win is the second over a nationally-ranked team on the road this season and the Hoyas now control their own destiny for a berth in the upcoming BIG EAST Championship.

Nick Marrocco (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) posted a season-high 15 saves between the pipes to pace GU (8-4, 2-2 BIG EAST) defensively. With his second save of the game, he reached the 600 career save mark to become the first BIG EAST player to achieve the feat since 2013. He is now one of just four Hoyas in program history to collected 600 career saves.

Daniel Bucaro (East Setauket, N.Y./Ward Melville) led the Blue & Gray with five goals and an assist while Jake Carraway (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's) added four goals and an assist. Lucas Wittenberg (Kennesaw, Ga./Harrison/Mercer) notched two goals and two assists, Robert Clark (Cooksville, Md./McDonogh School) tallied two goals. Craig Berge (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) and Ryan Hursey (Finksburg, Md./Westminster) both logged assists as well.

Gibson Smith (Pelham, N.Y./Pelham Memorial) hauled in eight ground balls on the day while Kieran Jenkins (Millersville, Md./Severna Park) and Joe LiCalzi (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) both had four.

Peter Tagliafferi (San Ramon Valley, Calif./Danville) had a strong day at the `X', winning 15-of-25 (.600) faceoffs against the Wildcats.

Villanova (8-4, 1-2 BIG EAST) took control early in the first quarter, scoring three of the first four goals of the game. The Hoyas responded with three-straight goals to close out the frame up 4-3 and drew a penalty with five seconds remaining to start the second period with an extra-man opportunity. Tagliaferri was dominant at the `X' in the opening quarter, winning all eight faceoffs.

Starting the second period with the man-up offense on the field, the Blue & Gray struck quickly as Clark collected the rebound from a Villanova save and one-timed it back home for the goal. The Wildcats answered with back-to-back goals to knot things up at five apiece but goals from Wittenberg and Bucaro down the stretch gave the Hoyas a 7-5 lead going into halftime.

Coming out of the break, Georgetown scored four unanswered goals, all by Carraway within three minutes of each other, to lead 11-5. A pair of late goals from the Wildcats cut their deficit to 11-7 going into the final period.

Georgetown created some breathing room to start the fourth quarter with a goal by Clark at the 11:35 mark to lead 12-8, but four-straight goals from Villanova made it a one-goal game, 12-11, with 8:14 remaining. From there, the Blue & Gray clamped down and won the ensuing faceoff which led to Bucaro's fifth goal for a 13-11 lead with nearly seven minutes remaining. Strong defense and gritty ground ball pickups the rest of the way sealed the victory for the Blue & Gray.

Christian Cuccinello led Villanova with three goals and three assists.

The Hoyas return to the friendly confines of Cooper Field on Saturday, April 21 for their final home game of the 2018 season against NJIT in nonconference action. The finale will serve as senior day for 13 Hoyas playing their final game on the Hilltop.