WASHINGTON – Georgetown University's men's lacrosse team closes out the 2019 regular season as it hosts St. John's to the Hilltop in BIG EAST action on Saturday afternoon. The No. 19/17 Hoyas look to secure a bid to the BIG EAST Championship Presented by Jeep with a victory as they bid farewell to 12 seniors playing their final game at Cooper Field.
Saturday's game is set for a noon opening faceoff. The game will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network with Dave Ryan calling the action and Steve Panarelli providing color commentary. Live stats will be available at
www.GUHoyas.com.
Georgetown is coming off a 23-7 victory over NJIT last Saturday to earn its 10th victory of the season. The Hoyas have now posted double digit wins in 15 different seasons in program history. Thirteen different Hoyas (10-4) scored in the win. It was Georgetown's first time hitting the 20-goal mark since 2001 as the Blue & Gray posted the most goals in a game since 1999.
Seven different Hoyas have notched double digit points this season, with six of them scoring at least 20.
Jake Carraway (Annapolis, Md. / St. Mary's) leads the group with 73 points (46G, 27A) while
Daniel Bucaro (East Setauket, N.Y. / Ward Melville) is right behind him with 68 points (45G, 23A). Carraway's 73 points are the second most is a single season in Georgetown history while Bucaro recently moved into second place on the Georgetown all-time scoring list. Named a 2019 Tewaaraton Award Nominee on Thursday, Bucaro is only seven goals away from tying the all-time record with the Blue & Gray.
Lucas Wittenberg (Kennesaw, Ga. / Harrison / Mercer) adds 39 points (17G, 22A) and
Robert Clark (Cooksville, Md. / McDonogh) chips in 36 points (24G, 12A).
Massimo Bucci (Ithaca, N.Y. / IMG Academy) has tallied 22 points (13G, 9A),
Declan McDermott (Pleasantville, N.Y. / Pleasantville) adds 20 points (9G, 11A) and
Dylan Watson (Guelph, Ontario / The Hill Academy) has 19 points (15G, 4A).
Freshman faceoff specialist
James Reilly (Berwyn, Pa. / Conestoga) has found his groove in the past two games, winning 37 of 55 (.672) trips to the 'X' to go with a career-high 12 ground balls in each game. He also had a goal and three assists. On the season, he is 163 of 324 (.503) on faceoffs and recently took over the team lead in ground balls with 78.
Defensively,
Owen McElroy (Ridgewood, N.J. / Ridgewood / Avon Old Farms) owns a 9-4 record between the pipes with 155 saves and .524 save percentage. He has collected at least 10 saves in 10 of his 14 games played this season.
Gibson Smith (Pelham, N.Y. / Pelham Memorial) continues to pace the defense with 24 caused turnovers and 69 ground balls. He leads the BIG EAST in CTs and is tops in GBs for all non-faceoff specialists.
Patrick Aslanian (Westfield, N.J. / Westfield) adds 20 caused turnovers and 22 ground balls while
Joe LiCalzi (Rockville Centre, N.Y. / South Side) and
Zachary Geddes (Winchester, Mass. / Belmont Hill / Phillips Andover) add 11 and 10 CTs, respectively.
St. John's (4-9, 0-4 BIG EAST) has lost five-straight games and is looking for its first league win of the season. Mike Madsen leads the Red Storm with 45 points while Joe Madsen and Declan Swartwood both have 35 points. Brody Agres owns a .484 save percentage to go with a 12.75 goals-against average in goal.
Georgetown is 14-4 all-time against the Red Storm and 7-1 at home. The only St. John's victory in the District came courtesy of a 13-12 overtime decision in 2012. The Hoyas have won three of the past four meetings, including an 11-6 victory in Queens, New York last season. Carraway led the Hoyas with three goals and an assist in the win while Wittenberg added two goals and two assists.
Saturday's game, along with the results of the weekend's other BIG EAST matchups, will dictate Georgetown's qualifying for the BIG EAST Championship next week in Denver.
