DENVER – Taking the first step to defending its BIG EAST men's lacrosse title, Georgetown University takes on Providence in the semifinals of the 2019 BIG EAST Championship Presented by Jeep on Thursday evening in Denver. The No. 17/17 Hoyas earned the second seed in the draw behind a 11-4 regular season record and a 3-2 mark in league play.
Thursday's BIG EAST Semifinal will feature Georgetown and the third-seeded Friars at 6:30 p.m ET. The game will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network with Ben Holden calling the action and Steve Panarelli providing color commentary. Live stats will be available at
www.GUHoyas.com.
Georgetown won its final three conference games against Providence, Villanova and St. John's to secure a trip to the Rocky Mountains in an effort to claim its second BIG EAST crown in program history. The Hoyas defeated Providence, their semifinal foe, 17-15 in the regular season in thrilling fashion. Down 9-5 at halftime, the Blue & Gray used an 8-2 offensive explosion in the third quarter to earn the victory on the road.
Four Hoyas were named All-BIG EAST First Team on Wednesday, led by Attack Player of the Year
Daniel Bucaro (East Setauket, N.Y. / Ward Melville). Bucaro tied for the league lead in scoring with
Jake Carraway (Annapolis, Md. / St. Mary's) at a stellar 5.07 points per game. The duo tied for the league lead in goals with 48 apiece while Carraway led the BIG EAST in assists with 28. Bucaro is just four goals shy of tying the all-time career record at Georgetown, currently held by Hall of Famer Scott Urick at 144, while both he and Carraway are just five goals away from tying the single season goal record set by Steve Dusseau in 2002.
Joining them on the All-BIG EAST First Team were
Lucas Wittenberg (Kennesaw, Ga. / Harrison / Mercer) and
Gibson Smith (Pelham, N.Y. / Pelham Memorial), both of whom were second team selections a year ago. Wittenberg tallied 20 goals and 25 assists for 45 points on the year while Smith led the BIG EAST in ground balls with 84 and caused turnovers with 25. Wittenberg was a BIG EAST All-Tournament Team selection last year.
Four other Hoyas have at least 20 points on the season in GU's prolific offense.
Robert Clark (Cooksville, Md. / McDonogh) has 41 points (28G, 13A),
Massimo Bucci (Ithaca, N.Y. / IMG Academy) has 22 points (13G, 9A) and both
Dylan Watson (Guelph, Ontario / The Hill Academy) and
Declan McDermott (Pleasantville, N.Y. / Pleasantville) have 20 points.
Defensively,
Patrick Aslanian (Westfield, N.J. / Westfield) has 23 caused turnovers from the defensive midfield,
Joe LiCalzi (Rockville Centre, N.Y. / South Side) has 11 and
Stephen MacLeod (San Francisco, Calif. / St. Ignatius),
Alex Mazzone (Stony Brook, N.Y. / Ward Melville) and
Zachary Geddes (Winchester, Mass. / Belmont Hill / Philips Andover) each have 10.
In goal,
Owen McElroy (Ridgewood, N.J. / Ridgewood / Avon Old Farms) has collected 169 saves to go with a .528 save percentage and an 11.34 goals-against average. He has started all 15 games for the Blue & Gray and posted a 10-4 record between the pipes during the regular season.
At the 'X',
James Reilly (Berwyn, Pa. / Conestoga) has won 178 of 349 (.510) faceoffs as a freshman and tied Smith for the league lead in ground balls with 84.
Providence went 7-8 overall and 3-2 in league play, earning the third seed at the BIG EAST Championship. The Friars are led by goalie Tate Boyce, the BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year. He was joined by second team honorees Nick Hatzipetrakos and Tim Hinrichs.
Boyce collected 190 saves on the season to go with a 9.91 GAA and .565 save percentage. Hatzipetrakos led the Friars with 37 goals and six assists for 43 points. Brendan Kearns added 43 points (25G, 18A) as well, while Hinrichs had 12 goals and 16 assists for 28 points.
The winner of Thursday's game will face the winner of the Denver/Villanova semifinal on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line.
