Brendan Cannon is not the only member of Georgetown’s men’s lacrosse team frustrated by the team’s scoring woes. Although the preseason Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference offensive player of the year has an assist in every game this season, goals have been much harder to come by.
“If Scott [Urick] was able to, he’d be pulling a lot of hair out of his head,” said Georgetown head coach Dave Urick of his son, the team’s assistant coach for offense. “If he pulled a handful out every time Brendan made a bonehead play, Scott would be bald right now. At the same time, you gotta wait and see what the bottom line is.”
The bottom line: Cannon’s three goals in this past weekend’s 10-9 win over Navy — the junior attackman’s first hat trick since 2005 — were a long time coming.
“I’ve taken a lot of shots, but they don’t show up on the stats because I miss most of them,” said Cannon. “I’ve been studyinga lot of film, looking at how I can get open on some guys, and my shooting percentage stinks so I’ve been trying to work on that.”
Cannon also ended a two-game stretch without a goal and now leads the fifth-ranked Hoyas (6-2) with 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists). Known more as a set-up man — his 32 assists last season earned him an honorable mention All-American nod — Cannon worked into the crease from the wing to score back-to-back unassisted goals in the third quarter against the Midshipmen, turning a 6-5 deficit into a 7-6 lead.
“He does that every practice,” said Hoyas goalkeeper Miles Kass. “One of the advantages is that you don’t when he’s going to go. I don’t think he even knows when he’s going to go, he just kind of goes.”
With top-scoring junior attackman Dan D’Agnes (hamstring) leading an increasing corps of injured players, Cannon provided a boost to an offense in need of confidence.
“A lot of our guys, coaches included, were waiting for that,” said Urick. “Our guys were waiting to see some of that from Brendan, and the last thing you want to do is put too much pressure on him. But you know what? He’s our guy. We need him to make plays at times.”
