WASHINGTON – The No. 22 Georgetown University women's lacrosse squad dropped a decision to the No. 16 Denver Pioneers 12-9 on Saturday afternoon at Cooper Field.  After a close first half, the Pioneers (10-2, 2-0 BIG EAST) managed to pull away in the second. With the loss, the Hoyas drop to 7-5 overall and 1-1 in BIG EAST Conference play.
 
"Today was a matter of us executing better, I give them a lot of credit for playing hard and taking away passing lanes, but we've got to do a better job of finishing the opportunities we're given," said Georgetown Head Coach Ricky Fried.
 
Senior attacker Morgan Ryan (Maplewood, N.J. / Oak Knoll School) led the way with a hat trick, while classmate Francesca Whitehurst (Baltimore, Md. / Roland Park Country School) added two goals and as many assists.  Senior attacker Taylor Gebhardt (Baldwinsville, N.Y. / C.W. Baker) posted a goal and two helpers followed by junior attacker Michaela Bruno (Garden City, N.Y. / Garden City) with two scores on the afternoon. 
 
The squads managed 24 shots apiece, and the defense forced 21 Pioneer turnovers while giving up 17 of its own. On the draw, GU pulled in nine draw controls to Denver's 14. Senior goalkeeper Haelle Chomo (Naples, Fla. / Barron Collier) notched six saves in the contest while junior goalkeeper Micheline DiNardo (Rye, N.Y. / Rye) had 14 minutes of action in the cage with one save to her credit.
 
It was a defensive battle early on as both squads had opportunities, but the goalkeepers and defenders combined on both sides to keep it 0-0.  At the 19:37 mark, Whitehurst buried a free position shot to put the Blue & Gray ahead 1-0 as the Hoya sideline went wild.  On the next possession, the Pioneers answered within the run of play to equalize it and then added one more to take the 2-1 lead at 17:53.  The Blue & Gray came right back as Natalia Lynch (Smithtown, N.Y. / Smithtown West) found freshman Ali Diamond (Lafayette Hill, Pa. / Plymouth-Whitemarsh) in front of the cage and she connected to tie the game back up at two. 
 
Both backlines would buckle down and come up with stops, until the Hoyas found a goal off of a defensive takeaway.  Georgetown came up with a stop at midfield on the ride, and passed it to Bruno who weaved through the Pioneer defense and hit it to make the score 3-2 with 8:10 left to play in the half.  Once again, Denver matched on the next possession as neither squad could hang on to an advantage. 
 
Late in the half, Gebhardt was behind the cage and sent it to Whitehurst right next to the post.  She beat Pioneer keeper Carson Gregg to put the Hoyas back on top.  The game continued with the same pattern as Denver scored on the next trip down the field playing a man down to tie the game back up at four.  In the final minute of play, Gebhardt would bury the free position goal as the Hoyas went into the half leading by one, 5-4.
 
It was Georgetown that struck first in the second half as a save from Chomo resulted in a long pass up the field.  She went to Whitehurst and Ryan who combined for a perfectly-executed give-and-go to make it 6-4 and give either team its largest lead to that point.
 
The Pioneers would not go away quietly, however, as the squad went on a 4-0 run off of quick scores to regain the lead and go ahead by two, 8-6, at the 19:13 mark forcing a GU timeout.  Out of the break, Georgetown cut the lead to one as Ryan and Whitehurst combined again with Ryan cutting and firing back across her body to make it 8-7 in favor of Denver.  The momentum did not stay with the Blue & Gray as the Pioneers connected a free position shot just moments later and then added three more, including one at the end of the shot clock, to make it 12-7 with 6:23 remaining.
 
Georgetown ended the run as junior Emily Ehle (Baldwinsville, N.Y. / Christian Brothers Academy) found Bruno for her second of the afternoon.  Despite the late goals, the Hoyas would not put together a comeback as GU fell 12-9.
 
The Hoyas will be back in action on Wednesday as the squad hosts No. 12 Navy on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Cooper Field.  Live stats and a webcast featuring Monika Moore will be available at www.GUHoyas.com.