PHILADELPHIA – Georgetown University's men's lacrosse team earned a 12-9 victory at Penn in the season opener for both programs on Saturday afternoon at Franklin Field. The fifth-ranked Hoyas made their season debut after their first two contests were postponed because of weather issues.
 
Hoya Highlights

• Rory Connor led the Hoyas (1-0) with seven goals and an assist for eight points in his Georgetown debut. Lucas Dudemaine added three goals and an assist while Liam Connor dished out five assists.
• Joe Cesare scored a goal and had an assist while Charlie McGurrin scored his first career goal. Jack Ransom and Evan MacFarland both notched assists as well.
• Ross Prince had a solid day at the dot, winning 12 of 24 (.500) faceoffs and adding four ground balls.
• Defensively, Ty Banks, MacFarland and McGurrin each had two caused turnovers while McGurrin led all players with eight ground balls.
• Anderson Moore (1-0) posted 11 saves in the win and collected two ground balls.

How it Happened

• Penn (0-1) got on the board first, scoring a goal 2:06 into the contest following an opening possession that saw multiple Georgetown shots on goal on the other end. The Connor brothers connected for the first time on the ensuing possession at the 11:37 mark and would find each other twice more before the game was over. Penn responded with another goal to lead 2-1, but Rory Connor's unassisted goal 35 seconds later sparked a 4-0 Georgetown run over the next 15:30 heading into the second quarter.
• After a slow start to the second with almost five minutes of scoreless action, the Connors connected again at the 10:19 mark to give GU a 5-2 lead but Penn responded less than a minute later with back-to-back goals in a 68-second span to pull within one, down 5-4. Rory Connor's fifth goal of the game with 2:39 remaining would close out scoring in the half at give the Blue & Gray a 6-4 lead heading into the break.
• Coming out of the locker room, the Quakers kept things close and scored just 53 seconds in to pull within one again at 6-5. After a five-minute scoring lull, Rory Connor and Dudemaine both netted two goals in a six-minute span to put Georgetown up 10-5 with 2:40 remaining in the frame. Not backing down, Penn scored twice in the final minute to make it a 10-7 GU advantage heading into the final 15 minutes of action.
• Georgetown scored almost immediately on the opening possession of the fourth quarter as McGurrin collected a fast break feed off the faceoff from LSM MacFarland to fire home a long-distance pole-to-pole goal. Dudemaine would complete his hat trick 59 seconds later courtesy of Liam Connor's fifth assist of the day. Georgetown's defense held firm down the stretch, allowing just two late Penn goals to seal the 12-9 victory.

Penn Notes

• Davis Provost led the Quakers with three goals and an assist while Ben Beacham had two goals and an assist with Griffin Scane scoring twice as well.
• Ethan Costanzo went 7-for-10 (.700) to lead a three-pronged faceoff unit that won 13-of-25 (.520) faceoffs on the day.
• In goal, Jack Pelot (0-1) had 12 saves in the loss.

Georgetown Notes

• Rory Connor's sixth goal of the game gave the graduate student his 200th career point. He now has 202 points combined between his career at Colgate and with the Hoyas.
• Connor's seven goals are tied for ninth-most in a single game at Georgetown.
• Georgetown assisted on 10 of its 12 goals on the day.
• With his two caused turnovers, Banks moves into sixth place all-time on the Hilltop with 48, passing Barney Ehrmann ('11) and tying Brennan Bicknese ('13).
• Georgetown is now 6-1 all-time against Penn and 4-0 when playing the Quakers in Philadelphia. All but one of the seven contests finished with a three-goal scoring margin or less.

Up Next
The Hoyas remain on the road to take on No. 6/7 Notre Dame on Sunday, February 22 in South Bend, Indiana.