Division I Men :      May 16, 2004 [ The Game Story]
Georgetown 15 Towson 8 Scoring: Scoring: Neal Goldman Kyle Morin Mike White Brice Queener Trevor Casey Walid Hajj Sean Denihan Ken Osier John Trapp Kevin Shooshan Reyn Garnett Kevin Langtry Nick Miaritis Peter Cannon (5, 1) (0, 2) (1, 1) (1, 1) (2, 0) (1, 1) (1, 1) (1, 0) (0, 1) (0, 1) (0, 1) (1, 0) (1, 0) (1, 0) Steve Mull Drew Pfarr Brian Myers Jonathan Engelke Ben Defelice Bobby Griebe Kyle Cunningham Peyton Chane Oliver Bacon (0, 2) (2, 0) (2, 0) (0, 1) (0, 1) (1, 0) (1, 0) (1, 0) (1, 0) Saves: Saves: Rich D'andrea Andrew Owen 10  (0.588) 2  (0.667) Reed Sothoron 14  (0.483) Current Record :     (11-3) Current Record :     (11-5) Team Page For 2004 Team Page For 2004       The Game Story:

Georgetown’s Neal Goldman said the “credit [for the win] belonged to the D,” but judging by his own performance, the career-high five goals that Goldman contributed proved equally effective in paving the way to the quarterfinals of the NCAA. It was clear from the start that Georgetown was going to put forth an aggressive defensive effort and that formula clearly stymied an ineffective Towson offense as their efforts yielded only three first half goals. In addition to Goldman’s dominating play, nine other Hoyas scored in a truly team effort that began with the unsettling defense and resulted in a myriad of transition goals for the Blue and Grey. Towson coach Tony Seaman said this was “the best game [he] has seen Georgetown play all year” and that sentiment was echoed by the 1500-plus who watched Georgetown leave Harbin Field in Washington, DC victorious.

Ironically, the game’s first few minutes were host to timid play by both teams and the slow pace was exacerbated by a break in play due to a malfunctioning sprinkler system on the field. But when Towson’s Drew Pfarr scored the first goal of the game at the 11:27 mark, things quickly heated up. Georgetown, as they did throughout the game, continued to maintain possession of the ball, yet they were unsuccessful in scoring due to a combination of great play by Towson’s goalie Reed Sothoron and a shooting performance that was high in quantity, but less so in quality, as many shots missed the cage entirely. Georgetown finally got their first score of the game with 7:42 left in the first. It came on a transition play that left Sean Denihan in a one-on-one situation with the goalie. The assist was credited to close defenseman Reyn Garnett and was a spark that got the bench and the fans into the game. The Hoyas would continue to build momentum as their next two goals would come only :32 apart and would give them a lead that they wouldn’t relinquish. The goals, both coming in transition, were credited to Goldman and Casey, respectively. Both scores exhibited selfless and team-oriented play, in addition to great lacrosse. Towson and Georgetown would trade goals to end the quarter with Georgetown leading 2-4.

The second quarter was case in point for the level of aggressiveness that was exhibited throughout the game, if it was the antithesis the level of offensive production that the score suggests. Towson’s Peyton Chane netted the first with an unassisted effort on a dodge from X and Goldman scored the second on a man-up situation that resulted from a 30 second holding call on Towson. Georgetown’s Walid Hajj scored the third and final goal of the second quarter with his own unassisted attempt. The remaining seven minutes included offsetting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties along with other personal fouls that exhibited the heatedness that was felt, but led to no scores for either side.

In the turning point of the game, Georgetown took the 6-3 halftime score and inflated it by running off four goals in a row, including one while they were “man-down”. Kevin Langtry scored the first on a “man-up” situation, and was followed by two more from Goldman, and the man down score from Brice Queener. Queener’s “man-down” score, in addition to Goldman’s fourth of the game, came on transition offense. Towson did finally respond with a score that immediately followed Goldman’s, and while it did seem to at least slow the Georgetown momentum, in reality it only cut a seven goal lead to six. And finally, with just over four minutes to play in the third, Goldman netted his fifth and final score of the day, unassisted.

There was hardly a realistic fan who thought that Towson had a shot at winning the game going into the fourth quarter, and while they continued to fight hard, the four scores that the Tigers put up, hardly proved effective. Each goal was matched by a Georgetown score, and the four goals would have only been half of what they needed, had they held Georgetown scoreless in the fourth. Further, some Georgetown seniors who had not previously seen a great deal of action this season also were able to get some time on the field. And while the eight goals that were scored in the fourth (between the two teams) constituted the most amount of scoring, it was neither the prettiest nor the most creative. Nonetheless, it did provide for some statistical fun as Georgetown seniors Mike White and Ken Osier (who is also a long pole in “man-down” situations) both scored their first goals of the season.

Overall the game belonged to Georgetown and there was hardly any point during the second half that there was a question as to who was going to come out on top. Further, this was one of the, if not the, best effort that Georgetown has put forth to date, and with an offense and defense that were feeding of each other so well, it would have been hard for any team to have mounted a more serious challenge. Here are a few of the stats: Shots: GU 46 – T 3; Ground balls: GU 39 – T 43; Face-offs GU 10-26 – T 16-26; Clears GU 30-35 – T 26-32; Extra-man GU 2-4 – T 0-4; Saves GU 12 – T 14; Turnovers GU 25 – T 32.