Georgetown Upends 'Cuse for Big East's Top Seed
from press release
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The No. 12 Georgetown
University women's lacrosse team made history once again on
Saturday ,as the Hoyas defeated the No. 9 Syracuse University
Orange (12-5, 6-2 BIG EAST), 10-9, at the Carrier Dome. With the
victory the Hoyas won the BIG EAST Regular Season Championship and
finished conference undefeated. This marks the second year in a row
that the Hoyas have won the regular season championship. Georgetown
is currently 11-5 on the season and 8-0 in conference play.
"Our youth served us well today," said Head Coach Ricky Fried. "We
have been playing a lot of players all season and that has helped
us stay fresh. Today was a huge team effort and I thought the
defense played a really big role in the win. I'm really proud of
the team for staying focused and going undefeated in one of
toughest conferences in the country."
The Orange scored early, but senior attacker Ashby Kaestner
(Trappe, Md./Saints Peter and Paul) came right back with a bullet
on the right side. Unfortunately, Syracuse quickly went ahead
putting together a 3-0 run as the Hoyas went down in the first
which has been a common theme this season.
Despite trailing, the Hoyas were patient on offense working to get
the right look. This resulted in a 3-0 run including two goals by
freshman Dina Jackson (Potomac, Md./Bullis School) and a free
position by classmate Kelsi Bozel (Hunt Valley, Md./Notre Dame
Prep).
The Orange came back to tie it late in the half, but Georgetown
had another answer when senior Sarah Seats (Baltimore, Md./St.
Paul's School) hunted down two loose balls off of Liz Hogan saves
eventually getting it to junior Jacqueline Giles (Ellicott City,
Md./Mount Hebron) who did a spin move and found the back of the
cage.
Georgetown took its first lead of the game after Kaestner just ran
through the defense to make it 6-5 at the break.
No team could gain momentum to open the second. Freshman Sophia
Thomas (Lutherville, Md./Maryvale Prep) scored at 24:42, but
Syracuse came back with a 2-0 run.
Lacrosse is a game of runs and the Hoyas proved that as Bozel hit
her second of the contest at 22:24 to spark a 3-0 run. Jordy Kirr
(Baltimore, Md./Bryn Mawr School) contributed a beautiful
left-handed shot and Bunny O'Reilly connected on the free position
to make it 10-7 midway through.
A Syracuse free position bounced in to pull the Orange within two,
but the defense held strong as the minutes ticked away. In the
closing seconds, Syracuse managed to score and hurried to get the
free position but the squad ran out of time as the Hoyas went on to
win 10-9.
Kirr led the way for Georgetown with one goal and two assists,
Kaestner, Bozel and Jackson added two goals apiece. The Hoyas
outshot Syracuse 35-33 and had three more ground balls (12-9), but
had just seven draw controls. The Georgetown defense was a force,
as Caitlin Formby (Towson, Md./Notre Dame Prep) notched 14 saves in
the cage.
The Hoyas have now earned the top seed in the BIG EAST Tournament
and will face fourth-seeded Loyola (Md.) on Thursday in the
semifinals. The tournament is being hosted by Rutgers University
and will be held in Piscataway, N.J. The semifinal will be
televised on CBS College Sports.
