DENVER – Georgetown University's men's lacrosse team looks to defend its BIG EAST crown when it takes on Denver in the BIG EAST Championship Presented by Jeep on Saturday afternoon. The second-seeded Hoyas defeated Providence in the semifinals on Thursday to face the top-seeded Pioneers in a rematch of the 2018 championship game.
Saturday's BIG EAST Final is set for a 4:30 p.m ET opening faceoff. 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 defeated the Friars 13-12 behind a record-setting performance from
Lucas Wittenberg (Kennesaw, Ga. / Harrison / Mercer). The senior midfielder set the program record for assists in a game with eight, breaking the previous mark of seven that was established in 1982 and again matched in 1993.
Jake Carraway (Annapolis, Md. / St. Mary's) had three goals and became just the second player in program history to amass 50 goals in a season.
The win over PC was the 12th of the season for the Hoyas, tied for the second most victories in a campaign. Georgetown's 13 wins in 1999 en route to the NCAA Semifinals is the school record, while the Blue & Gray has also posted a dozen victories in 2000, 2002, 2007, 2018 and now 2019.
Carraway leads the Hoyas with 79 points (51G, 28A) while
Daniel Bucaro (East Setauket, N.Y. / Ward Melville) is right behind him with 73 points (49G, 24A). Tallying a goal and an assist in the semifinal victory over the Friars, Bucaro is now just three goals shy of tying the all-time career goals record at Georgetown, currently set at 144.
Wittenberg is third on the team with 54 points (21G, 33A) and his 33 assists are the second most in a single season in Georgetown history.
Robert Clark (Cooksville, Md. / McDonogh) has 43 points (30G, 13A) while
Massimo Bucci (Ithaca, N.Y. / IMG Academy) has 24 points (15G, 9A),
Declan McDermott (Pleasantville, N.Y. / Pleasantville) has 23 points (10G, 13A),
Dylan Watson (Guelph, Ontario / The Hill Academy) has 22 points (17G, 5A) and
Austin McDonald (Olney, Md. / Georgetown Prep) has 10 points (8G, 2A).
Defensively,
Gibson Smith (Pelham, N.Y. / Pelham Memorial) and
Patrick Aslanian (Westfield, N.J. / Westfield) both have 26 caused turnovers,
Joe LiCalzi (Rockville Centre, N.Y. / South Side) has 14 and
Stephen MacLeod (San Francisco, Calif. / St. Ignatius) and
Alex Mazzone (Stony Brook, N.Y. / Ward Melville) both have 11 and
Zachary Geddes (Winchester, Mass. / Belmont Hill / Philips Andover) has 10.
James Reilly (Berwyn, Pa. / Conestoga) leads the way with 91 ground balls and has won 191 of 376 (.508) faceoff attempts while Smith adds 89 GBs.
Denver (10-4) defeated Villanova in the other semifinal on Thursday to advance to face the Hoyas in the championship game. Ethan Walker, Austin French and Colton Jackson each had hat tricks for the Pioneers.
Walker leads DU with 50 points (38G, 12A) while Jack Hannah has 29 points (14G, 15A) and French chips in 28 points (16G, 12A). Jackson, Ellis Geis and Ted Sullivan each have 25 points for the Pios.
The winner of Saturday's game will earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
