Georgetown Trips Up No. 11 Harvard
from press releases
WASHINGTON - Dean Gibbons and Travis Burr each
scored twice for No. 13 Harvard, but the Crimson men's lacrosse
team fell in overtime at Georgetown, 9-8, Wednesday
afternoon. In a game was tied on seven different occasions,
Harvard's Jeff Cohen forced overtime with a goal with only 22
seconds remaining in regulation, but a goal by Ricky Mirabito at
1:19 of the extra session gave the Hoyas a sudden victory.
Joe Pike made a season-high 12 saves in net, while Gibbons led
Harvard's offensive showing with three points.
After Christian Oberbeck won the game's opening face-off for
Harvard (4-2) and grabbed the ground ball, Oberbeck moved the ball
quickly down the field, finding Kevin Vaughan with a pass.
Vaughan took the ball and fired a shot for the game's first goal at
14:54. The Hoyas got on the scoreboard midway through the
first on an unassisted goal by Craig Dowd at 8:39, knotting the
game, 1-1.
Georgetown's Andrew Brancaccio shot the ball over Pike's
shoulder for a man-up goal at 4:08, giving the Hoyas a 2-1
lead. With two seconds remaining in the first, Max
Motschwiller bounced a shot from the right side into the top of the
net, tying the game moments before the end of the quarter.
Cohen almost gave the Crimson a 3-2 advantage, but his attempt
from just outside the crease hit the crossbar at 7:38. After
back-to-back shots by Scott Kocis and Craig Dowd missed the net,
the Hoyas went ahead, 3-2, on Brancaccio's second goal of the game
at 5:03. Georgetown tacked on another tally to take a 4-2
lead on a score by Kocis at 3:50.
With time winding down in the half, Gibbons cut Harvard's deficit
to 4-3 at 2:33 before Nick Sapia tied the game on a running shot
from the wing with 1:30 to play in the second quarter. At the
break, Georgetown (3-4) held a 20-15 advantage in shots, while the
Crimson led, 18-11, in ground balls.
The Hoyas regained the lead early in the third, as Dowd teamed up
with Kocis for Georgetown's fifth goal at 12:45. Late in the
quarter, Harvard killed a one-minute slashing penalty, blocking two
shots in the process, before Pike cleared the ball. Cohen
accepted a pass from the Crimson goalkeeper and then played it
ahead to Gibbons. The sophomore attacker slipped the ball
inside the far post past a diving Jack Davis, tying the game,
5-5.
Only 30 seconds into the fourth, Harvard grabbed its first lead
since 1-0 in the opening quarter on a transition goal by Burr from
Gibbons. The back-and-forth game continued as the Hoyas forced the
game's fifth tie, as Ricky Mirabito made it a 6-6 contest at
6:58.
With less than four minutes to play, Cohen was stripped of the
ball in the crease, but it bounced directly to Burr who chipped the
ball into the cage, giving Harvard a 7-6 advantage at 3:52.
Two minutes later, Harvard was called for a slashing penalty at
1:34, giving the Hoyas their fourth extra-man opportunity of the
afternoon. Georgetown responded with a man-up tally by
Mirabito off a pass from Dowd.
After the Hoyas won the ensuing face-off, Todd Cochran maneuvered
his way around two Crimson defenders before throwing a grounder
past Pike, butting Georgetown ahead, 8-7, with only 53 seconds
left. Harvard responded with winning the next face-offs and
moving quickly into the Georgetown zone. Cohen, controlling
the ball from the wing, fired a shot past David's stick, tying the
game with only 22 ticks left in regulation, forcing overtime.
In the extra session, Mirabito gave Georgetown a sudden victory at
1:19, as he netted his third goal of the game on a shot from in
front of the cage.
The Hoyas outshot the Crimson 41-28 in the game, including 2-0 in
overtime. Georgetown was also successful on 17-of-19 clear
attempts and scored both of the game's man-up tallies. The
Crimson held the edge in ground balls, 30-26 and claimed 11-of-20
face-offs, all by Oberbeck.
