Both Maryland and Georgetown, who were originally slated to play each other in late February, appeared to be playing as if it actually was late February, as a stream of turnovers and miscues cost both teams early goals and sent a wounded Georgetown team back to Washington with only their second loss of the season. The absence of injured All-American Kyle Sweeny and the seemingly constant presence of Hoyas in the penalty box enabled an equally physical Maryland team to maintain a lead that was not relinquished throughout the game.

The play in the first quarter was plagued by poor shooting (20 shots producing only 3 goals), and an excess of turnovers (21 between the two teams). Further contributing to the sloppy play was the unusually high number of penalties, as two of the first three goals came by means of extra man opportunities. The first of those man-up goals, the first of the game, came from Maryland's freshman standout Joe Walters. The score came off a broken clear only 1:10 into the game. The aggressive play continued along with the dropped passes and poor quality shots. Ironically, Georgetown?s lone goal of the game came on an intended pass that hit Maryland keeper Danny McCormick in the back and fell in behind him. Georgetown's Mike Hammer was credited with the score. The final score of the half came with only 0:30 to play and it belonged to the Terps. Brian Hunt, after receiving a feed from Dan LaMonica, stood on the crease and finished with a goal after a number of jukes caused Hoya goalie Rich D'Andrea to fall in an attept to make the save. At the end of the quarter, Georgetown had already served 3:00 in the box on 4 penalties and had been responsible for 11 turnovers.

Unfortunately for the Hoyas, similar play continued as the one goal deficit became two by the time the half ended. And even while Georgetown was having difficulty on its own, Maryland did little to exploit those problems. Nonetheless, Maryland's two goals in the second quarter were a bit more deserving than those of the first. Ryan Moran's score nearly 4:00 into the quarter came off of a hard move across the middle of the field and after fighting through checks, he was able to let off a hard bounce shot that found the back of the net. In what was one of the few bright spots for the Georgetown midfield, Trevor Walker responded less than a minute later when he unleashed a lefty rocket to the top right corner of the cage, to bring the score back to within one. But the well quickly dried up for both offenses as only one other goal would be scored in the remaining 10:32. It came from senior Terrapin captain Mike Mollot, who came off of a hat-trick in the UMBC game, to give a two goal (three point) performance tonight. As the half ended, there were 34 turnovers, 40 shots, 6 goals, 11 penalties, and Georgetown had won all eight of the face-offs. Hardly your typical half for two top-ten teams.

Georgetown came out in the second half with a bit more fire and a bit more control. They were again able to bring the game back to within one when Phil Vincenti scored off of a feed from Jordan Vettoretti, but as was the case throughout the night, Maryland was able to answer. When consecutive pushing penalties were called against the Hoyas, Moran was able to net his second on the extra-man opportunity. But soon after, for the final time of the night, Georgetown was able to cut the Terp lead to one. Again it came from Vincenti on a hard over the top shot that stuck on the top shelf. With the score standing at 5-4 and 8:30 left in the third quarter, the Hoyas seemed to be gaining some momentum, and while it was momentarily slowed by yet another penalty, a Maryland penalty followed as Georgetown's was released, and the anticipation of a high-quality finish was starting to be felt. But that hope soon faded as the Hoyas were unable to get off quality shots and Maryland was able to open the lead to two before the half ended on a Mollot inside spin that left him one-on-one with D'Andrea on the crease. That left 15:00 left to play and a two goal Maryland lead, 6-4.

If Georgetown had been able to come out and score early in the fourth, the game would have been drastically different, but fortunately for Maryland, they were able to put two goals together to double the lead to four. The first was LaMonica?s only score of the night, and it was followed by defenseman Lee Zink's score. Zink, known also as a tremendous hockey player, won player of the game honors for netting his first career goal. It all but sealed the victory for the Terps and while Georgetown's Walid Hajj was able to score an unassisted goal and Maryland's Brian Hunt was able to notch his second, no effort would have been able to bridge the four goal gap that the Hoyas found themselves with. Final score: Georgetown 5, Maryland 9.

Statistics of note:

Shots: Hoyas 43, Terps 31; Face-offs: Hoyas 16-18, Terps 2-18; Turnovers: Hoyas 33, Terps 33; Penalties: Georgetown 10/7:30, Terps 8/7:00; and Extra-man opportunities: Hoyas 1-7, Terps 2-10.

Maryland vs. Georgetown

Maryland

9

Scoring
Brian Hunt	(2, 1)
Ryan Moran	(2, 1)
Mike Mollot	(2, 1)
Joe Walters	(1, 1)
Dan Lamonica	(1, 1)
Lee Zink	(1, 0)

Saves
Danny Mccormick	14 (0.737)

Current Record
Maryland	9-3

Georgetown

5

Scoring
Walid Hajj	(1, 1)
Phil Vincenti	(2, 0)
Jordan Vettoretti	(0, 1)
Trevor Walker	(1, 0)
Mike Hammer	(1, 0)

Saves
Rich D'andrea	13 (0.591)

Current Record
Georgetown	10-2