After only one possession each for Georgetown and Princeton over the final six minutes of the fourth quarter of Sunday’s the NCAA first-round matchup, the last thing expected when the game went to overtime was a quick strike by either team.
So Hoyas junior attack Brendan Cannon took advantage on the first possession of the extra period, and just 31 seconds into overtime he got underneath Tigers defender Dan Cocoziello from the wing, sped to the cage and launched himself across the goalmouth to beat goalkeeper Alex Hewit from close range.
Cannon stripped off his helmet and gloves, dropped his stick and was mobbed by his teammates, who celebrated his game-winner, their 9-8 overtime home victory and Georgetown’s first-ever win over Princeton in front of 2,156.
“In hindsight it was the play,” said Hoyas head coach Dave Urick, whose team advanced to the quarterfinals for the sixth straight season and carry an eight-game winning streak in a showdown with Johns Hopkins next Saturday at Princeton.
“It’s either going in or going the other way,” said Cannon of his move. He also finished the game with two assists. “Or maybe the shot goes over the cage — I do that a lot, hopefully somebody’s backing it up — it is sort of a win or lose move.”
After falling behind, 3-1, at the end of the first quarter, the Hoyas (12-2) came back to tie the game, 4-4, by halftime, and then scored the three consecutive goals by three different freshmen — Andrew Brancaccio (Georgetown Prep), Craig Dowd and Scott Kocis — in the first five minutes of the third quarter.
The Tigers (10-4) responded with three of their own before the quarter was over, including a feed from Scott Sowanick (Bullis) to Peter Trombino and the second goal of the game from Mark Kovler (Landon).
Georgetown stumbled on its final possession with just under three minutes left in the fourth quarter on a weak shot by Garrett Wilson, and then Princeton did the same when Whitney Hayes was unable to hold on to a pass from Sowanick in the final seconds.
“We felt like we needed to hold it to the end,” said Tigers head coach Bill Tierney. “Things were going back and forth a little bit. You always question yourself on that — should we have gone a little earlier, gotten another chance. But that would’ve given them more time as well.”
Paw prints
» Georgetown freshmen accounted for six of the Hoyas’ nine goals. Craig Dowd led all scorers with three goals while Andrew Brancaccio scored twice and earned his first career assist. Senior Trevor Casey (Georgetown Prep) had two assists, and senior Ryan Still scored just the third goal of his career.
» Princeton was led by senior Peter Trombino, sophomore Mark Kovler and freshman Rob Engelke, who each scored twice.
